


Moving to the top floor

by Bianca9013



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Alternate Universe, CEO!Mandy, CEO!Mickey, Crushes, First Meetings, Humor, M/M, Minor Character Death, OOC, Romance, Slurs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-24
Updated: 2015-10-19
Packaged: 2018-04-23 05:01:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 57,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4864118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bianca9013/pseuds/Bianca9013
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Au where Mandy and Mickey are co-CEO's at a big company and Ian works for them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The new assistant

Ian Gallagher liked his job, well as much as a person could like a customer service job. If you get past the idiotic complains some people have you could say it’s a good job. It’s not too stressful and the pay is good. It’s a bit repetitive, you do the same things every day, but overall it’s fine. The company name is Virtual-Ink™ and they basically sell everything that revolves around printers, scanners, toners and so forth. It’s an online shop and the company is pretty huge so they have a big building with a lot of employees. Ian is one of those employees and he’s been working there for almost a year. The company started small and in only a few years they managed to be at the top. Ian’s job was simple: he came to work, put his headphones on and started taking calls.

“Hey Ian, are you taking your lunch break?” his friend Lily asked. He closed his phone line so calls won’t be directed there and threw his headphones on the desk.

“Let’s go” he said cheerfully.

They walked to the recreational room. Ian just poured himself some coffee, said he wasn’t hungry and took a seat at one of the tables. Lily took a seat opposite him.

“Did you hear about the job opening?” Lily said all of the sudden, a huge grin appearing on her pale face.

“What job opening?” Ian asked

“The assistant job for one of the CEO’s. They’re taking interview starting today. You should apply” she said and Ian raised an eyebrow

“Why me? Why not you?”

“Well personally I would hate to be someone’s assistant. It’s just not my thing. I know it’s a good opportunity and a way better paycheck but I still don’t think I could pull it off. But you seem great for the job and you’ve been working here for almost a year so you know the company well enough.” She said and took a bite from her sandwich.

“Tell me more about it” he said and Lily grinned again

“Well you’ll be working from 8 to 6 instead of 9 to 5 but it’s not a big change. Yes, there are 2 extra hours of work but I heard the salary is worth it. Don’t know the exact numbers but I heard it’s quite appealing.” Ian didn’t mind the extra hours because he wasn’t doing anything interesting when he left from work anyways. He lived alone, in an apartment not too far away from the building. He would usually go and visit his sister Fiona or his brother Lip but that was about it. His life was boring and everyone knew that. He wasn’t seeing anyone at the moment because his last boyfriend turned out to be a possessive jealous freak so he broke it off.

“Wait, which of the CEO’s?” Lily smiled when she heard him because she knew very well that he was hoping it would be for Mickey Milkovich. Ian told her once that he thought he was cute and ever since that day Lily insisted that Ian was madly in love with their boss. But of course that wasn’t the case.

“Sorry to disappoint honey but it’s Mandy, not Mickey” Ian rolled his eyes at her and laughed

“Why would I be disappointed? I told you, I’m not in love with the dude for fuck’s sake. I never even met him.”

“Sure you’re not. And I’m the Queen of England. Would you like a cup of tea darling next to that bullshit pie you’re eating?” she said the last past in a fake British accent that made Ian laugh.

“You’re so annoying, you know that right?” he asked in between laughs

“Well that’s why you love me. Now, on a more serious matter, are you applying?” she asked turning serious all of the sudden.

“I think I will. You said they started taking interviews?” she nodded

“Good, I’ll just have to do it tomorrow though, need some time to write that resume.”

 

* * *

 

 

Ian did apply the next day and after 2 more days he got a call. He was supposed to meet with Mandy Milkovich that Friday at 2. Well now he was nervous all of the sudden. What should he wear, should he get a haircut? Maybe shave? He looked like a monkey with that beard. Yes he should shave. Or not? Yes!

“Stop pacing, you are driving me insane.” Lily complained. Ian was at her cubical pacing back and forth like a lion in a cage.

“I’m nervous and it’s your fault”

“What the fuck is it my fault?” she asked throwing her hands in the air and earning a weird look from the new guy across from her. “What are you looking at kid?” she shouted and the boy just turned back to his screen.

“Because you gave me the idea in the first place. Now what if I go there and not only will I not be good enough for the job but she will also think I’m not good enough for this one and she’ll fire me?”

“I swear to god, you need to work on your chill. She won’t fire you dumbass. The worst case scenario you won’t get the damn job. Calm the fuck down and go back to your own cubical before they have a fucking reason to fire you”

“You always swear so much Lily. And you say I have no chill” he said and turned around to leave. She flipped him off but he didn’t see that because he was already walking to his own cubical a few feet away.

It was 2 o’clock and Ian was sitting on a chair in front of Mandy’s office. He was so nervous that he thought he could pass out right then and there. Her current assistant told Ian he could go inside and gave him a small smile. He knocked on the door and when he heard a “Come in” he pressed the door knob.

“You must be Ian Gallagher. Come and take a seat” she said and gestured to the chair in front of her desk

“Now I can see you are nervous so you need to calm down because this is not an interrogation. You are not suspected of murder here” she laughed and Ian laughed back not wanting her to think she wasn’t funny.

“Well you can’t blame me. Who isn’t nervous at a job interview?” Crap was it not ok that he said that?

“True that, my friend. Well I looked over your resume and I have to say I’m impressed. And I’ve looked over your file and I was pleased to see that you are doing an excellent job over at the customer service. What made you decided to apply here?”

“Actually a friend of mine who also works here told me about it a few days ago and I thought I should apply. I’ve been working here for almost a year and I know almost everything about the company so a more responsible position sounds like something I can see myself doing.” That had to be the most idiotic response anyone has ever said in the history of human kind. But to Ian’s surprise Mandy smiled.

“Well you are right that we would prefer someone who already knows the company well” She kept playing with her black hair a lot. And smiling a lot. Was she flirting? She couldn’t be, that wouldn’t be professional. Ian agreed that he must be imagining it.

She asked him more question and Ian felt like a dumbass after answering each one. He was sure he fucked this thing up badly. He also thought it was a good thing to ask why her current assistant was leaving. Mandy told him that she was moving to another country because her husband got a better job offer.

“It was a pleasure to get to know you and you’ll be hearing from me soon enough” she said and stood up. Ian did the same. He thanked her for the opportunity, said an awkward goodbye and left, closing the door behind him.

 

* * *

 

 

Mandy grabbed the phone as soon as he closed the door and pressed one button.

“Put Mickey on for me” she said to Mickey’s assistant. A few seconds later he answered

“What is it now, I have work to do?” he asked annoyed

“I think I found my new assistant” she said and giggled. Mickey rolled his eyes

“I know that tone. Let me guess, dumb as a brick but cute as a button?” he asked and kept on signing some papers.

“He’s not dumb as a brick, he actually works here, over at the call center department.”

“That doesn’t mean he’s not dumb” Mickey said

“Well he’s not. I looked over his file and he’s one of the best employees we have in that department. He’s smart and he’s charismatic, which is a plus in an assistant job. Plus he’s so good looking you could die just by looking at him” Mickey laughed

“And I would bet my entire fortune that that is the main reason you want him for the job. Look you do whatever the fuck you want but I’m telling you that in a few days you’ll regret this and you’ll have to find someone else.”

“I don’t think that. He actually seems capable for the job and not just because he has charm. You’ll see after you meet him” Mickey doubted it but he was eager to prove his sister wrong.

“Fine, hire the dude but don’t you dare sleep with him in the first week. Wait at least a month” Mandy laughed at that. She wasn’t so sure sleeping with him was a good idea but she could admire him every day. She wouldn’t mind coming to work to that face every day.

“I’m not going to sleep with the man. But I can still look at him, all day, every day”

“Whatever, I have important things to take care of so we’ll talk later.” He said and hung up.

“Rude” Mandy said and put her phone back down. She was sure she wanted him for the job but she also knew she can’t just call him now and tell him he got the job. She would wait a few more days and then call.

 

* * *

  

“I got the job”

“Oh my god that’s great. They called you already? It’s only been a week. Anyways, I told you you’d get it dumbass” Lily said and gave him a hug. He was grinning like an idiot. “Let’s just finish our work for today and we’ll go out and celebrate after work” she suggested

“Don’t you have to meet with Roger?” Ian asked

“Roger can wait. He isn’t the one who got a brand new job” she grinned and Ian laughed.

He went back to his cubicle and started to think about this whole thing. He didn’t know if he will regret leaving this job for a more stressful and complicated one but he was about to find out, no? There’s no turning back now.


	2. I’m cute as hell, which is incidentally where i came from.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Well would you look at him. You look like a fucking moron, a serious moron” Lily said from her usual seat at the table in the recreational room.   
> “Shut the fuck up, I’m not serious, I’m cute as hell, which is incidentally where i came from.”

Ian was ready for his first day at his new job. He was, yes, he was.

“What the hell? I look like a fucking moron” he shouted when he looked in the mirror. He went back to his closet. Why the hell was he so stressed about this? It’s just clothes, not like that will make a difference. Shut the fuck up, yes it will. He tried something different.

“The hell?!? This is even worse” he growled and threw this piece of clothing in the –absolutely no- pile. He tried something else. They all looked the same to Ian. He hated dressing with a shirt and a jacket. At his previous department he could dress with anything he liked but now he had to be more formal, it was required. Damn all this dress codes and shit like that. He hated these shirts and the ties, oh damn the ties. All ties should burn in hell.

“This is better, I guess” he told himself and kept fussing in front of the mirror. This jacket was too tight. The other ones weren’t any better either. He needed new jackets. He made a mental note that jackets should burn in hell along with the ties. He eventually calmed down because he remembered he could just as well not wear the fucking jacket around the office because why the fuck should he? He took a last look in the mirror, checked his hair which was looking better than usual and left the bedroom. Yes, he was so ready.

The way to the office was short, like always, a 10 minute walk and he was there. Damn he was lucky when he found that apartment. He had Lip to thank for that. He was the one who found it and who immediately put an offer before Ian got there so no one else would take it. God bless Lip. His brother Phillip or Lip (everyone called him Lip) was a lawyer. And a damn good one at that. He worked at a huge law firm downtown. He always helped Ian with anything. He was that kind of a brother. They also had a sister, Fiona. Great girl, she was married to a Jimmy Lishman. Ian wasn’t very fond of Jimmy but if his sister loved him it was good enough for Ian. Jimmy was a doctor and Fiona was a designer. Ian wasn’t in touch with his parents as much as Lip and Fiona were. He never felt as attached to them as his other siblings. He never knew why, he just never felt it. They still live in the house he and his siblings grew up; he sometimes visits them but not as much as the other two.

Ian was in the elevator and he almost pushed the button to the floor he used to work just a few days ago. He then pushed the button to the top floor. A huge grin suddenly made its way on Ian’s face. Then the sensation of overwhelming took place in his head. Suddenly he was scared, terrified. What if he wasn’t going to do a good job? What if he keeps making mistakes and they have to fire him? It’s not like they’re going to say “Oh hey, sorry it didn’t work out because you are an incompetent ass, here, have your old job back and let’s just forget about this”. No they are going to kick his ass out of here so fast they won’t even remember he was there in the first place. Nope, Ian was not ready for his first day.

 

* * *

 

 

“This is not so bad, right? Are you getting a hold on things?” Mandy asked while resting her elbows on Ian’s desk. He actually was doing ok. It’s been 3, no, wait, 4 hours since he started and he didn’t fuck up. He still had time though.

“No, it’s ok. I’m going to get used to this.” He grinned like a stupid bastard. A thought appeared in that little weird mind of his and his mouth took control before he could do anything about it.

“Where’s Mr. Milkovich? I don’t remember seeing him at all today” Dear Jesus, did he just ask that? On his first day? Mandy straightened her posture and made a weird face. Something like “why the hell are you asking that for?” and she opened her mouth to say something but she was interrupted

“Last I checked I was in a meeting but who knows, maybe I’m still at home” Ian’s face was as red as his hair. Of fucking course the CEO heard him talk about him, on his first day. Of course it happened to him. Why wouldn’t it?

“Oh I didn’t mean it like I have a problem with it or something because I don’t” he wasn’t making any sense and Mickey knew that, he was just nervous. But he liked to torture the newbies. “I was just wondering that’s all” He mentally slapped himself. No, no, he mentally kicked his ass into a coma for this. Mickey just giggled.

“Just messing with ya man. Hi, I’m Mickey Milkovich, you must be the brand new assistant” he extended his hand for Ian to shake it and he did.

“Pleasure, name’s Ian Gallagher” Ian tried to sound casual, not a fucking good idea. It was his boss not some friend of his brother. Ian looked better at the man in front of him now that he had the opportunity. Dear god, he remembered he was cute but now that he looks at him he was actually kind of hot. He was shorter than Ian and had the most amazing blue eyes he ever saw. He just wanted to get lost in those eyes. He didn’t realize he must have looked like an idiot standing there and looking like that at him.

“Uhm Ian, are you still with us?” Mandy asked and waved a hand in his face. Ian blinked and shook his head so he can focus again.

“Sorry, I was thinking about Cleo” he realized what he just said and his eyes widened like fucking plates. The fuck is wrong with him? The co-CEO’s looked at him like he was some kind of a crazy person.

“Cleo?” Mandy asked

“My cat” Why the hell did Ian say he was thinking about his cat? Who says things like that?

“And you were thinking about your cat because?” Mickey asked and made a small gesture with his palms.

“Because I uhm don’t remember if I closed the bedroom window and she has a habit of climbing on the fire escape?” it came out more like a question than a statement.

“Are you asking or telling us?” Mickey asked and laughed.

“Telling, definitely telling” Ian assured them.

“I swear to god I’m not always like this, I’m just nervous” he said and frowned. Mickey had no expression on his face and Mandy had a “owww look how cute and innocent he is” expression.

“Well it was a pleasure but I have to get to my office now, papers won’t sign themselves.” Mickey said and both Ian and Mandy nodded.

“So, now that he’s gone I have to go too. You keep answering those calls and I’ll be in my office for now. I’ll call you in if I need you to do something. You can take your lunch break at the same time you used to just call me first so I know you’re not at your desk, ok?”

“Sure thing.” He said firmly and threw his ass on the chair. Mandy nodded once more and went to her office.

This phone rang more than the one from his other job and that was a call center. He looked at the clock and saw it was time for his break and his stomach agreed making a weird sound. He called Mandy, told her he was going and that he’ll be back in half an hour.

 

* * *

 

 

“Well would you look at him. You look like a fucking moron, a serious moron” Lily said from her usual seat at the table in the recreational room.

“Shut the fuck up, I’m not serious, I’m cute as hell, which is incidentally where i came from.”

“Why the fuck is that?” she laughed

“Because there can’t be any other explanation as to why I keep talking stupid shit like that without even realizing it. The logical explanation is that I was born in hell and my only purpose here on earth is to make a fool of myself”

“That makes absolutely no sense Ian. What stupid shit you did again?” she asked and took a sip from her tea.

“Well I was staring like an idiot at Mickey and when they asked me why I was doing that I said that I was thinking about my cat” She spit the tea from her mouth and laughed. Everyone in the same room gave her a weird look and rolled their eyes because it was something she usually did. She would always laugh like a crazy person.

“You have no chill man, I keep telling you that but you refuse to listen” she placed the cup on the table “And why were you staring at our dear boss? Were you perhaps thinking about your future kids?” Ian rolled his eyes

“Yeah cause that’s what normal people do when they first meet someone, they think about their future non-existing kids”

He tried to eat in peace but Lily kept talking about something she and Roger did the night before. Ian listened, nodded when he thought he had to but didn’t comment on anything. His mind was flowing to a whole other place. Next thing he knows someone is hitting him on the back of his head. He snapped back to reality and saw that Lily got up from her chair so she could reach and hit him.

“Have you been listening to anything I just said?”

“No, sorry. I’m just a little nervous that’s all”

“Still? Man, calm down because you’ll do great. If you keep stressing about things that you shouldn’t stress about that’s when you’ll do something stupid because you’ll be too busy being stresses to notice anything else.” That made no sense whatsoever but Ian nodded to let her know he understood.

His break was over so he said goodbye to Lily and went back to the elevator. He pressed the right button and waited for the box to take him to where he needed to be. Maybe he was ready after all. I mean, even if Lily was talking nonsense she did have a point. He needed to chill. 


	3. All aboard the train to Nopeville

It was the end of Ian’s first week at his new job and his computer decided to stop working. Well that’s just fucking fantastic, isn’t it? He was almost finished with his report when the fucker just stopped working. So he did what everyone there did when shit like that happened, he called the company’s tech-support department. They said they’ll send a guy over in a few minutes. Like promised, 10 minutes later a tall grumpy guy appeared in front of Ian.

“What seems to be the problem?” He asked. Ian could tell he was bored out of his mind.

“Well it just stopped working. Don’t know why, could you take a look?” the guy nodded

“You should get up though”

“Of course, of course” Ian said and quickly got up from his seat and the guy took his place.

A few minutes in and Ian was already bored. He kept playing with a pen and looked casually around. He then looked over at the tech guy and saw that he was still displaying the grumpy/tired expression. He looked like he was in a desperate need of a coffee. So Ian casually asked

“Would you like a coffee or something? You look tired” he hoped he didn’t cross a line. The guy looked up from the screen, his eyes drifted a little, like he was thinking about it and then he looked back at Ian

“A coffee would be great, thanks” Ian nodded and went a few feet away to where the coffee machine was, poured some in a cup and handed it over to the guy. He accepted the cup, said thanks and continued to work.

Ian casually looked at him and noticed the tag on his shirt, the tag with his name on it and it took Ian a few seconds to read it right.

“So” he squinted “Vlad, you’ve been working here for long?” he asked and the guy raised an eyebrow

“About 3 years” he said and continued to work. Ian nodded. He was really bored and by the looks of it he was also really bad at small talk.

“Vlad, that’s Russian, right? You from there?” the guy looked up again clearly not in the mood for small talk.

“Nope, Romania” he answered and Ian nodded.

“Cool, cool. So, you’ve moved here 3 years ago or?” he was really bad at this.

“No, 10 years ago. Looks like I’m done here. Should work now but if there’s any other problem call the department again, ok?” he said and got up quickly. He grabbed his bag and started to walk. “Thanks for the coffee” he shouted and Ian nodded. With that he was off.

Ian took a seat back at his desk and continued with his work.

He was just about to finish when Mickey walked out of his office from the other end of the hallway. He said something to his assistant Ana and then started to walk towards Ian’s desk. For some reason Ian started to feel nervous. It’s not like he never talked to the guy since he’s been working here. But for some weird reason every time his boss was anywhere near him he would completely lose it.

“How’s it going ginger?” he asked casually flashing a smile. Ian felt his heart melting. Keep it together Ian, he can’t see you acting like a little girl.

“Fine, fine, almost finished for today. You?”

“Great. Is my sister in?” he asked and Ian nodded.

“Thanks, see you around” he said and walked into her office.

Ian was smiling like an idiot and he didn’t even know it. He was daydreaming like a loser when his phone started to ring bringing him back to reality. It was Lip

“Yeah?” he answered

“What’s up man?” his brother asked

“Not much, almost finished with work, is something wrong?”

“No man, look he are having an office party tomorrow evening because we just closed a huge fucking case and we can invited friends and family. You and Fiona should come, it will be fun” he said and Ian could sense he was grinning.

“Sounds good, don’t have anything else planed, I’ll be there” he said. He could use an evening out away from his boring apartment.

Lip said he had some work to do so they ended the conversation. As Ian was gathering his things from the desk both Mandy and Mickey came out from her office. They were laughing about something but stopped when they saw Ian.

“You heading out?” Mandy asked

“Yep, I’m done with everything. See you Monday?” he asked and they both nodded. They said goodbye and Ian left.

 

* * *

 

 

As Ian was leaving Mickey couldn’t help but stare at him, well at his butt if he was being honest. He knew he was being a fucking hypocrite considering he always told Mandy it was unprofessional to stare at the employees but he couldn’t help himself. Since Mickey first saw Ian at the start of this week he couldn’t stop thinking about the redhead. He was just so fucking tall and gorgeous. No wonder Mandy liked him from the start. And he wasn’t bad at his job either. Mandy was right about him all along. But he wasn’t going to let Mandy know that nor was he going to tell her that he was checking her assistant out every day he passed by him. But the truth is Ian was just his type: tall, redhead and handsome. They didn’t have a weird company policy where you can’t date your coworkers but Ian wasn’t a coworker. Mickey was the CEO and even though it wasn’t illegal it wasn’t right either. And even if people wouldn’t talk about it, saying it’s not fair and that Ian would get a special treatment because he was sleeping with the boss Mickey still didn’t know if Ian was gay in the first place. He couldn’t risk by throwing himself at Ian and make a fool of himself. No, Mickey would just have to suck it up and forget about the redhead. Yes, it was a simple task to do, right?

“So you think it would be wrong of me to flirt a little with him?” Mickey was brought back to reality when Mandy asked him that. He raised an eyebrow as he looked at her

“The fuck you talking about?”

“If it would be wrong to flirt a little with Ian, see if he’s interested” she asked and bit her lower lip.

“Yes it would be fucking wrong. Everyone would talk Mandy, and say he’s getting special treatment for dating the boss” his tone was a bit more defensive than he wanted it to be. Was he jealous that his sister might flirt with him and he was going to flirt back?

“I never said anything about dating. A little flirting never hurt anyone” she said innocently even though there was nothing innocent in her eyes. Lust maybe, but not innocence.

“Look, I can’t tell you what to do but please don’t scare away a perfectly good assistant just for some little flirting”

“Oh so now he’s perfect? Just two weeks ago you said he would do a poor job and that I’ll regret hiring him” she said with a cocky smile

“Well I was wrong, you win this time” he said despite the fact that he just a few minutes ago decided not to tell her that. Mickey rolled his eyes at the shit eating grin Mandy had going on.

“Come one, let’s go. There’s no fucking point in standing here in the hallway” he said and gestured to the elevator.

 

* * *

 

 

Ian wasn’t having a bad time but he wasn’t having a great one either. He had no one to talk too considering Fiona ended up not coming after all and Lip was busy talking with all sorts of people Ian had nothing in common with. He was casually sipping from his drink when Lip approached him.

“Dude, come meet someone. He’s new to the company but he’s a great guy” Lip said and dragged Ian.

At the other end of the room there was a guy, a rather tall and skinny guy with dirty blond hair.

“Ian this is Iggy Milkovich, Iggy this is my brother Ian I was talking about” Ian was smiling until he heard the name Milkovich.

“Milkovich? Any connection with Mandy and Mickey?” Ian asked. He knew it was rude to ask right away but he never was a creature of good sense.

“Yeah, they’re my siblings actually, how do you know them?” he asked with a smile. Lip was just looking at them.

“Well I’m Mandy’s assistant actually” Ian said with a grin. He should have said her full name not only Mandy, she’s his boss not his classmate.

“Ohhhh you’re the new hot redhead then” Iggy said without thinking about it. As soon as he finished saying it he gasped and put his hand over his mouth closing his eyes. “And that’s something I shouldn’t have said. Fuck, I’m a dead man.” He looked very ashamed. Lip found this amusing for some reason.

“And how is my misery funny if you don’t mind me asking?” Iggy asked Lip and gave him a death glare.

“Oh it just is. I mean both your faces. Priceless” he kept laughing and Iggy flipped him off.

“Uhm would you mind not mentioning what I just said?” he turned back to Ian and gave him an apologetic look.

“Sure, don’t worry about it. I’ll take it to the grave” he said. He noticed that Lip was not there anymore. Well that was rude.

“Great, he would murder me if he found out I spilled the beans” Iggy said and laughed. Ian’s eyes grew wide again

“He?” he asked and Iggy looked shocked all of the sudden. He slapped his face again. He closed his eyes and let his head fall in shame.

“Fuck, I did it again. You thought I was talking about Mandy” he said and lifted his head back but kept his eyes closed. “Fuck” he said and opened them.

“You’re brother said that?” Ian asked just to be sure he heard him right.

“Yes” he said and bit his lip. “But you still won’t say anything, right?” he asked again

“No, no, just never though he was…you know, gay” he said the last word in a whisper.

“Yeah he doesn’t tell people that. I just hope you don’t find that as a problem. You know, not everyone is ok with it”

“Don’t worry, I have no problem with it. Believe me” he said but left out the part where he would say that he’s also gay. Iggy nodded. Ian saw that his eyes drifted over his shoulder and a little expression of shock came over his face. Ian frowned at that and turned around to see what he was looking at. And there they were, Mickey and Mandy were just arriving, both of them with a questioning look on their faces. Well, all aboard the train to nopeville and let’s get the fuck out of here because this was getting way too much for Ian.

“Please act casual so he doesn’t find out” Iggy whispered and Ian nodded.

“Fancy seeing you here Ian, how come?” Mandy asked with a huge smile. She was wearing a nice black dress and her hair was tied up in a bun. She looked nice.

“Well my brother is working here actually, with Iggy” he gestured to the man next to him like they wouldn’t know who Iggy was.

“Yeah? Which one is he?” she asked

“That one” he said and pointed to Lip who was talking to another man “His name is Phillip Gallagher but everyone calls him Lip”

“Oh I know him, Iggy mentioned him.” she took a better look “Damn are all you Gallaghers so damn fine?” she asked and Mickey almost chocked with his drink. Ian laughed.

“Mandy that’s so inappropriate” Mickey said and nudged his sister. She rolled her eyes.

“Yeah like they don’t have a fucking mirror to know that already.” She looked at Ian and smiled “Introduce me to that dashing brother of yours” she giggled and Mickey just let out a “Oh my god” in horror.

Ian took Mandy over to where Lip was and introduced them. He saw that Lip’s face lighted up the second he looked at Mandy. They started talking and Ian made his way back to the other two Milkovichs and smiled.

“Well that was something new. Never thought I would be doing that, ever” he said and Iggy laughed. Mickey was feeling very uncomfortable for some reason.

“I have to go and talk to Matt from Legal. I need a favor and he seems just about the right amount of drunk for me to ask him. See you later bro, and nice to meet you Ian” he left in a hurry.

“So this is awkward” Mickey said and brought Ian back from his thoughts. Suddenly Ian remembered Iggy’s little slip earlier and his stomach made this weird thing. Was he fucking nervous?

“Yeah, family can make it that way” he said lamely.

“You don’t seem to be enjoying this” he said and gestured around

“Not my thing. As lame as it sounds I would rather be curled up on my couch with Cleo right now.” he said and laughed but Mickey didn’t. He had a weird expression.  

“What?” he asked Mickey

“Why didn’t you bring her too?” what the hell was he talking about? Who brings their cat to office parties?

“Why would I bring my cat to a party? I may be lame but I’m not THAT lame” he laughed and Mickey closed his eyes in embarrassment.

“Ohhh Cleo’s your cat. You mentioned her on your first day. I totally forgot and thought she was your girlfriend” Mickey said lamely and Ian laughed.

“Yeah I don’t have a girlfriend. Not my thing” he said, his voice was low. Mickey looked confused.

“Not your thing?” he asked. Ian just wished someone would shoot him right now. He didn’t want to tell his boss, no, no, his GAY boss that he was also gay. Fuck.

“Yeah as in women in general, not my things, you know” he said awkwardly and hoped Mickey would get it.

“Oh yeah. Uhm cool” he said lamely. Well at least he got it.

“Uhm I think I’ll go talk to my brother, I need to ask him something. It was nice seeing you” Ian said and Mickey nodded. Ian could swear he saw a little bit of disappointment in his eyes.

“Yeah, nice seeing you.” With that Ian left and wished the ground would swallow him whole and end this awkward thing he called life. 


	4. Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt.

It’s been a month since that party and Ian still couldn’t stop thinking about what Iggy said. Did Mickey actually think he’s hot? Should he do something about it? Because Mickey sure as hell wasn’t doing anything. But maybe Mickey was doing the right thing by not actually doing anything.

“What do you think I should do?” Ian asked his cat who was purring next to him on the couch. She meowed and then jumped off the couch and went into the kitchen. Ian sighed. “Well that’s what I get for asking a cat. I’m so pathetic it hurts.”

This month has been great. Ian was starting to feel more and more like at home rather than at work. Mandy was a great boss. She was patient and she knew how to fucking explain what she needed. Not vaguely tossing around words and then expect Ian to understand. He was getting a hand on the job and by now he rarely encountered difficulties. Well, there still are times when he has to do stuff that imply him moving his lazy ass from his chair but he did everything as he was told. It turned out Mickey had to get a new assistant too because his old one left for another job. The new assistant, Louise was nice. She had that mother hen vibe going on. Always bringing Ian cookies she baked herself. Ian didn’t mind and he wondered if that’s how having a good mother feels like. He wouldn’t know.

He was watching some tv when Mandy called him. He frowned and wondered what could she possibly need on a Friday evening? Well you have to answer to find out, don’t you?

“Hello” he answered

“Sorry to disturb Ian, hope I’m not interrupting anything” she said, her voice sounded cheerful

“If you consider watching tv with your cat something then yes, otherwise, no. What’s wrong?” he could hear Mandy giggle on the other line.

“Nothing wrong just wondering if you’d like to come to my birthday tomorrow evening” Ian raised an eyebrow. Yes, they got along ok and they certainly had something more than boss/employee relationship going on but he felt she was nervous asking him this. And why didn’t she mention anything the whole week?

“Uh yeah, sure, why not. Where is it?” she explained that it will be held at her house and gave him the address. Still, her tone was weird.

“One more thing” she hesitated but took a deep breath “You can bring your brother if he wants to come” Ohhh so that’s why she was nervous. She actually wanted Lip there so she thought that by inviting Ian it was easier to invite his brother too. Ian smiled.

“I’ll have to check with him and then let you know but I don’t think he has anything planned” he said

“Cool, I guess I’ll see you guys tomorrow. I’ll be expecting your text. Bye Ian” she said cheerfully again

“Ok, bye Mandy” he said and hung up. He knew most people weren’t talking to their boss like that but hey, she doesn’t seem to mind it.

Ian was panicking again. It’s Mandy’s birthday which means Mickey is going to be there. Fuck. What should he wear? He hated that he stressed about clothes. Why does it matter what he’s going to wear? He tried to calm down because he wasn’t going to prom or to his first date. He was going to a party where other people will be there, talking and socializing. Crap, he would have to socialize with people? He hated to socialize. At least maybe Iggy will be there. He liked Iggy, after that party he saw him a couple of times when he went to Lip’s office and they talked about stuff. Iggy would ask him every time if he said anything to Mickey about his slip and every time Ian would assure him he didn’t. Honestly, he was stressing too much about this. Yeah, look who’s talking.

His phone started ringing again and brought him back from his thoughts. It was Lip.

“What’s up, I was just about to call you” Ian said casually.

“Nothing much, wanted to see if you’d like to hang out tomorrow”

“That’s exactly why I was calling. Mandy called me and asked if we both would like to go to her birthday party tomorrow evening. What do you say?”

“I say you should count me it” Lip answered immediately and Ian laughed. Of course he wanted to go.

“I thought so, come pick me up tomorrow at about 8, ok?” he asked and Lip agreed. They talked a little more but then Lip said he had to go so they hung up.

The rest of the evening went by slowly. Lily paid Ian a surprise visit and they ended up watching some boring movie she suggested.

 

* * *

  

“Think we got the right house?” Lip asked looking at his brother. Ian shrugged.

“Well this is the address she gave me and there are a lot of cars parked around aaaand you can hear music so I’m going to go out on a limb here and say yes, this is the right house” Lip rolled his eyes and ignored the sarcasm in Ian’s voice and tried to find a place to park the car.

“Damn, there are a lot of cars. How many friends does she fucking have?” he asked annoyed. Eventually he parked a few houses down so they had to walk up to the house. The door must be unlocked because who expects anyone to hear a doorbell when the music is so loud.

Lip pressed the doorknob and the door opened so they stepped inside. People where everywhere. It was only like 8:30 but some of them were already drunk. Why does this remind Ian of a college party? Well Mandy was only 24 so he guessed this kind of parties were still ok.

“There you guys are. So glad you came” Mandy said as she appeared out of nowhere. Ian jumped a little because she actually scared him.

“I bet that the fact that Lip is here is better than just me” Ian said when he leaned to hug her. He slapped him on the back of his neck. “Ow what was that for?” he asked surprised.

“For being a dick” she said and laughed

“Happy birthday by the way” Ian added and smiled.

Lip hugged her tighter than necessary if you asked Ian but he wasn’t going to say anything. He didn’t want to earn another slap.

5 minutes after they got there he spotted Mickey. He was talking with Iggy and some other dude. Mickey looked like he was bored and wanted to scream. It’s only been a month but Ian knew when he was fake smiling and when he was uncomfortable. So Ian decided to do a dumb thing.

“Mickey? Mandy asked me to tell you that she wants to see you” he said with a serious but at the same time casual tone. Mickey actually believed him so he excused himself and followed Ian. They were now in another room and the guy couldn’t see them anymore.

“Where is she?” Mickey asked confused.

“Oh she doesn’t want to see you it’s just that you looked very uncomfortable there so I thought I’d give you a reason to leave” Ian said and really, really hoped he didn’t make a fucking mistake.

“Oh thank god man. I thought I was going to die” he finally said and laughed. Ian relaxed and smiled. “It’s just the dude’s some big shot with a lot of money and he wants to do some business with us so I have to listen to his nonsense even if it makes my ears bleed.”

“Yeah, I know the feeling” he said and Mickey frowned. Ian realized that it sounded like the fact that he was here with Mickey, who was his boss, was exactly the same situation for Ian.

“I don’t mean that I know because I’m talking to you and you’re boring or anything. Just that I went through something similar a few times.” he explained quickly and even stuttered a little. He was such a loser. Mickey smiled.

“Relax Gallagher. I’m not your boss here. Anyways, when did you get here? I didn’t even know Mandy invited you.”

“About 5 or 10 minutes ago. She called last night and invited me and my brother Lip” Mickey laughed at that

“Ah yes, your brother. Don’t tell her I said this but she seriously can’t stop talking about him since that party at his office. She’s very annoying” Mickey took a sip from his beer “Where are they though?”

“I saw them heading out by the pool right after we got here. I guess they’re there, you want to join them?” Ian asked

“Nah man, I would rather stay with you” Mickey said and took another sip, his eyes never leaving Ian’s. When Ian heard that his stomach made that thing again. That weird feeling. “But if you want to join them, be my guest” Mickey added but Ian shook his head.

“No, I’m cool here” he said, his eyes also not leaving Mickey’s.

“Good. Want a beer?” he asked Ian when he noticed he wasn’t drinking anything.

“Yeah sure” he said and smiled. Mickey entered the kitchen which was right next to where they were standing and a few seconds later he came out with another beer in his hand and handed it over to Ian.

They were talking and laughing, both of them enjoying each other’s company when a girl approached them. She looked a little drunk.

“Hey Mickey, who’s your friend? He’s hot” she said and giggled. Then she almost fell because she tripped on the rug.

“Wow there Jenny, you could fall and break your neck and we don’t want that now do we?” Mickey said after grabbing her by the arm. “This is Ian Gallagher, he works with me and Mandy” Ian looked over at Mickey and smiled at the fact that he said works with me and not for me. Something was definitely happening here.

“Hi Ian Gallghre” she clearly didn’t hold her liquor well. His name wasn’t that hard to pronounce “you’re very cute, you know that?” she asked and pressed a finger on the top of his nose.

“Ooook, clearly you don’t have manners when you’re drunk so I’m going to find someone to help you sober up a bit. Ian, wait here for a few seconds” he said and Ian nodded.

A couple of minutes later Mickey was back laughing.

“Sorry about that, she’s my cousin and she has no manners. I gave her to her brother and he’s taking care of her.” Ian gave him a smile “Want to go outside?” he asked

“Sure, let’s go”

They walked outside by the pool and saw that Mandy was all over Lip. She was kissing him like there was no tomorrow. Both boys laughed when they saw them

“Damn she sure doesn’t waste time” Mickey said and Ian agreed. “At least she stopped trying to pound your ass after she met him” Mickey realized what he just said and closed his eyes like he was trying to calm down and not hit himself. Were all the Milkovich siblings talking without thinking it through?

“What?” Ian asked and laughed

“Oh crap she’s going to kill me if she finds out I told you”

“Told me what?” he was really curious right now.

“Well she kind of had a little thing for you when you started working for her. Please don’t tell her that I told you, she’ll go mental” Mickey pleaded

“She had a thing for me? Why?” Mickey raised an eyebrow. Was this kid serious?

“Why? Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately? Why wouldn’t she?” again, Mickey realized way to late what he was saying. He blamed the beer. Ian’s eyes widened and he could feel himself blush a little.

“Uhm, thanks, I guess” he said lamely and scratched the back of his head. Mickey looked just as embarrassed as Ian.

“Yeah that came out wrong. Sorry” the thing is, Mickey wasn’t sorry but he was scared Ian would freak out and want to leave.

“Don’t apologize, it’s nice to hear a compliment, even if it was just by mistake” Ian said boldly

“In that case, I’m not sorry.” He looked around to see if anyone was near them “The thing is, most people freak out when they are complimented by their boss.” Mickey said getting a little closer.

“Well, I’m not most people” Ian said back and took a step closer himself.

They stared at each other for a few seconds before Mickey took a step back and cleared his throat.

Uhm would you uhm” he didn’t get to finish the sentence because someone interrupted him.

“Mickey my man, we didn’t finish our conversation earlier. Did you finished with your sister?” the same man from before said as he patted Mickey on his left shoulder. Mickey took a deep breath and flashed his famous fake smile

“Yeah, just hold on a second” he said and turned back to Ian. “Do you mind if I look for you later, after I finish here?” Mickey asked with an apologetic look in his eyes.

“Sure, no problem, I’ll be around here” Ian said and smiled. Mickey nodded and turned back to the annoying dude. Ian’s smile faded as soon as Mickey turned around.

Ian decided to move around the house, he wasn’t going to stand there right next to them like a fucking stalker. He couldn’t stop thinking that Mickey was about to ask him something important. Well, he just has to keep calm and wait. He didn’t know why he felt so sick all of the sudden, like someone stabbed him in the gut, that made no sense because everything was beautiful and nothing hurt. Nope, not at all. 


	5. I lost my cat.

Ian didn’t get to talk to Mickey again that day because they had to leave. About half an hour after Mickey started to talk to the annoying guy, Lip came looking for Ian and asked if they could leave because someone from Lip’s office called with an emergency. Lip was Ian’s ride so he had to leave. They said goodbye to Mandy and Ian asked her if she could explain to Mickey why he had to leave. Mandy raised an eyebrow “why would Mickey care if he leaves” she thought, but eventually shrugged her shoulders and promised she would tell him when she finds him.

The car ride home was silent, Lip didn’t ask Ian why he looked so down and Ian didn’t ask Lip why he looked so cheerful. Well, Ian knew why Lip was so cheerful and he sure as hell wasn’t going to tell his brother that he was so upset because they had to leave and he couldn’t continue to flirt with his damn boss. No, Ian was going to leave that out of the equation. Half an hour later Lip dropped Ian off and went straight to his office even though he wasn’t dress for that.

Ian entered his apartment, his cat greeted him with a meow and started to rub on Ian foot. It was kind of late but not that late. They weren’t at the party that long so he wasn’t very tired. He opted on watching a movie, which he actually enjoyed and after that he went to bed.

Sunday was as boring as any other Sunday for Ian so he decided to call Lily.

“This better be good because I was just about to take a relaxing bath. And you know how much I like taking a relaxing bath, on a Sunday” Ian rolled his eyes

“I was wondering if you’d like to go out for lunch or something. I have something to ask” she could sense his tone was a bit weird

“Ok, you sound weird so I’m going to skip this bath. But that’s only because you’re my friend and I love you. And this better be good. Meet me in 20 at that coffee place we always go. They have a new cute barista that I like to look at” Ian sighed

“What about Roger?” he asked

“You know very well me and Roger aren’t exclusive. I know he’s seeing someone else so why the fuck should I not do the same?”

“Fine, meet you there in 20” he said and ended the call.

20 minutes later they met up in front of the coffee place, both of them arriving at the same time.

“Well let’s go inside and you can tell me all about what’s making that pretty face of yours frown.” She said and gestured toward the door.

Ian opened it, went out of the way so Lily can enter first and then he followed right behind, closing the door after him. As she said, the new barista was there. Ian agreed that he was good looking but he was definitely not his type. Too tall and way to blond. He preferred men with darker hair and maybe not so tall.

“Well I don’t want him to be your type because I have my eyes on him” Lily said after Ian told her he wasn’t his type, even though she didn’t ask.

They ordered a coffee each and took a seat at one of the tables, close to the window. Ian lit a cigarette much to Lily’s surprise.

“I thought you quit that” she said and pointed to the one Ian was holding between his lips.

“I decided to start again, sue me” he said bluntly.

“Wow you really are in a bad mood. What’s going on with you?” she asked as she took a sip from her coffee. Bad idea because it was still too hot.

“I think I kind of flirted with Mickey at the party and I swear to god that he flirted back and he wanted to ask me something because he was getting way to close but then some douche interrupted and then Lip had to leave so obviously I had to leave because he was my ride and I never got to talk to him and see what he wanted to ask me” he said in one breath and Lily’s mouth fell open. Then she hit his arm

“I fucking knew he was gay. I fucking knew it. And I told you you’re madly in love with him” she said and grinned. Again with that grin Ian hated.

“I’m not in love with him, Jesus. We just flirted a little but now I think that maybe that wasn’t such a good idea.” He said and looked down at his coffee, moving his thumb up and down the cup.

“Why?” she asked and attempted at another sip, the coffee still kind of hot.

“Oh I don’t know, because he’s too short. Why do you think? Because he’s my boss for fucks sake” he almost shouted it but calmed himself so he wouldn’t make a scene.

“Ok calm down, yes, that’s a little inconvenient but at the same time why should you care?” was she really asking that?

“Because people will talk, they will say he’s giving me special treatment and I don’t want to be THAT person. The person everyone secretly hates because their sleeping with the boss man.” He said

“Fuck, you may be right. But what now, you’re just going to suffer like a teenager with a crush on the teacher?” she asked and he shrugged.

“Maybe if I don’t do anything about it, it will go away easier. If I do something stupid and sleep with him and let him be a part of my life then I won’t be able to just let it go. So I don’t do anything and wait for it to go away, it’s simple actually.” He wanted to sound convincing but Lily wasn’t fooled so easily.

“Man that sounds like a really bad plan. But you’re a grown man and you’ll do whatever you want. I’m not going to tell you what to do with your life.” Ian appreciated that. He didn’t like it when people meddled with his life.

They sat for about an hour before they decided to leave. Ian was surprised when he saw that Lily managed to get the barista’s phone number.

“Told you I could get it” she said and they stepped out of the shop.

“Yes, congratulations. Want to come over my place?” he asked

“Wow, two guys in on day, I must be good at this” she winked and laughed right after. “No man, sorry, I have to go by my mom’s place today. But I’ll give you a call if I’m going to swing by later, ok?” Ian nodded. They said goodbye and went on their separate ways.

She didn’t end up coming that evening after all.

 

* * *

 

It was Monday morning and Mickey was horrified to go to the office. He fucked up bad by flirting with his sister’s assistant. And the fact that Ian had to leave without him getting the chance to apologize for his inappropriate behavior wasn’t good either. Mickey knew it wasn’t the right thing to do, to start something with one of his employees. But that redhead was so damn hot it killed Mickey. He almost wished Ian would do something stupid and Mandy would have to fire him so he could jump his ass right after. But he knew that even if Ian did something stupid Mandy likes and appreciated him too much to just immediately fire him. Yep, he was screwed and he knew it.

When he arrived he saw that Ian was already there, the pen he was holding was right at the corner of his lips and Mickey never wished so badly to be a fucking pen. He licked his lips, took a deep breath and made his way to his office.

“Oh hello Mickey, didn’t hear you coming. How was the rest of your weekend?” Ian asked casually

“Fine, fine. Yours?”

“Ok, I guess.” Well this was awkward. They didn’t know what the hell to say to each other.

“So I have to get to my office but it was nice seeing you, bye” Mickey said lamely and made his way to his office before Ian could respond.

“Hello mister Milkovich, did you have a good weekend?” his assistant Louise asked cheerfully. He loved his new assistant. She was damn good at her job and she was the sweetest lady ever. He noticed she liked Ian a lot; she would always bring him cookies. She also told Mickey that Ian reminded her of her son who died a few years ago so maybe that was one of the reasons she liked him so much.

“Hello Louise. It was fine, Mandy’s birthday was fun, it was a shame you couldn’t make it”

“Yes, I had to visit my daughter. But I don’t think you would have liked an old lady like myself at a party full of young people” she laughed

“Come on Louise, you’re not old” he said and laughed “Anyways, any calls for me?” he asked changing the subject

“Yes, quite a few, all from a mister Ronald Bates.” She said and Mickey rolled his eyes. It was the annoying dude from the party. He was so persistent in made Mickey mad.

“I’ll call him in a few. If there’s anything else you know where to find me” she nodded so Mickey went into his office.

 

* * *

 

Ian was doing something Mandy asked him to and he was almost done with it when his cell phone started to ring. It was Lip.

“Yo baby brother, what’s up?”

“I’m not your baby brother, I’m only 2 years younger for fucks sake.”

“Fine, fine, what’s up?” he asked again

“Working, why?”

“Well I was wondering if you’d like to come by my place after work. I need to ask you a favor” Ian had a feeling he knew what that favor would be but he agreed and after they ended the conversation he got back to work.

Mickey passed his desk a few times that day and every time Ian swears he would catch him staring at him and he would turn his head right when Ian would look at him. It was driving him insane.

As it turned out Lip didn’t want to ask Ian what he thought. He just wanted to plan a surprise party for Fiona’s birthday next month and he needed Ian’s help. Ian was quite surprised Lip still wasn’t asking about Mandy.

“So uhm” Lip started to say as he placed his now empty whisky glass on the table “how was your day?” his tone was a bit weird and Ian squinted a little.

“It was fine. Why do you ask?” he asked suspiciously. He knew Lip didn’t want to know about his day.

“No reason, did you talk with someone interesting?” Ian sighed

“If you want to ask about Mandy just go ahead and ask. Don’t go faking you care about how my day went” he said annoyed. Seriously, they weren’t in high school anymore.

“What I can’t ask about my brother’s day without him thinking I have a secret agenda?” Ian gave a him a “what do you think” look and Lip laughed

“Ok, ok, you’re right. So, how’s Mandy?” now Ian laughed

“Jesus Lip why don’t you ask her yourself? I don’t think you’re strangers anymore after you had your tongue down her throat.”

“Because I never got her number. I was too much of a dumbass to ask her for it and I guess she was too nervous to ask for mine.” He said and looked at his hands like he was ashamed. Ian sighed again and took his phone from his pocket.

“Here, I’m going to give you her number” he said and started to look for it in his contacts. Lip was grinning. “Don’t go and fuck this up Lip, I’m serious. I know how you are with relationships and I swear, if I lose my job because you fuck up this I’m going to murder you in your sleep” and he wasn’t kidding.

“Shut up, she likes you too much to fire your ass because of me” Lip said and Ian gave him a serious look

“That doesn’t mean it’s ok to fuck this up. I’ll give you her number only if you promise not to break her heart. I mean it, she’s a great girl and she doesn’t deserve a douchebag.”

“Jesus, I promise. What are you now, her brother?” he joked but Ian didn’t find it funny. He didn’t know why he felt the need to act so brotherly about this whole thing. Even though Mandy was his boss he kind of thought about her as part of the family. He didn’t know why. He gave Lip the number.

“Funny stuff.” He said sarcastically and got up from the living room couch “I kind of have to go.” he lied. He didn’t have to go but he just wasn’t in the mood to sit and talk with his brother today.

“Oh ok. Well. We’ll talk tomorrow then.” They said goodbye and Ian took a cab home.

Lip would always ask him why he doesn’t just learn how to drive so he can buy a damn car. Ian always tells him that he doesn’t want to learn how to drive and that he should keep his mouth shut.

 

* * *

 

 

That week flew by quickly and before Ian knew it, it was a Saturday again. He had plans to meet with Lily and a friend of hers, Mary, later on but until then he had some time to kill. He was lazily standing on the couch, watching some tv when he suddenly thought about something. He doesn’t remember seeing his cat since this morning. That’s weird.

“Cleo” he shouted around the house and looked for her in the usual places she would hide. Nothing. He went to his bedroom and it took one look to know where she is. The window was open, he forgot it open again. She would always climb the fire escape when he did that.

“Fucking shit” he muttered and went over to the window. He looked around but didn’t see anything. Of course she wouldn’t still be there. He grabbed his keys and went outside to look for her.

First he looked inside the building, on the corridors, on the staircase. Everywhere. He even asked the people who would pass by him if they saw her. No one did. She must be outside then, that or someone saw her and took her inside. But he wasn’t going to go door to door to ask everyone. Well, not yet anyways.

He was looking outside, first he went behind the building but she wasn’t there. He was starting to get irritated. He was mumbling under his breath, walking while looking everywhere when he heard someone call his name

“Gallagher?” he turned around and saw Mickey. He was wearing a plain white t-shirt and a pair of jeans. How can someone look so good in something so plain?

“Mickey, hey. What brings you here?” he asked surprised

“Well I was just at the office, I forgot something there yesterday and I was just about to go see a friend of mine who leaves around here. What about you?” he said and looked at the redhead in front of him. He was wearing a pair of grey sweatpants and a Flash t-shirt. So Gallagher was a comic-book nerd? Who knew?

“Well I live here” he said and gestured to the building next to them “that’s why I look like I just woke up” he said lamely and regretted it right after he said it. He mentally punched himself again.

“That doesn’t explain why you’re in the middle of the sidewalk in your slippers” Mickey said and gestured his head at Ian’s feet. Fuck, he didn’t notice he still had his slippers. Fuck.

“It’s just I was looking for my cat. She climbed the fire escape again and I can’t find her anywhere.”

“Want me to help look for her?” Ian nodded quickly “How does she look like? You know, so I can know if it’s her. There are a lot of cats around here”

“Well she’s white and grey and has a smudge on her face that kind of looks like an upside down V but not really” he doesn’t think he explained that correctly.

“You mean an A?” Mickey said and giggled

“What?”

“An upside down V is more like an A but without the line in the middle.” Mickey explained and Ian was staring at him like an idiot.

“Yeah, yeah, something like that, I guess” he seriously wanted to die right about now.

“Did you look everywhere?” Mickey asked after they started walking in the other direction.

“Yes, it’s driving me insane. I hope no one stole her”

“Who would want to steal a cat?” Mickey asked

“Who the hell knows? People do all kinds of crazy shit” Ian responded and Mickey had to agree.

They were looking around the area for about 10 minutes when Mickey came from around the corner with a cat in his arm.

“Is this who you’re looking for?” he asked and Ian turned around to see that that was indeed his cat. He smiled.

“There you are. Where did you find her?” he asked and took her from his hands.

“Just around the corner. She was hiding behind that dumpster”

“Must have been scared.” He lifted her and looked at her “That’s what happens when you leave the fucking house” That made Mickey laugh. Ian was being way to cute for his own well-being.

“So uhm, do you want some coffee?” Ian asked and suddenly felt very nervous about it “I mean I have to thank you for finding my cat” yep, that was lame.

“Actually that doesn’t sound bad” Mickey said and grinned.

He followed the redhead up to his apartment and really hoped he could control himself and not do something he’ll most likely regret.


	6. I'm not saying I hate you.

“So uhm you live alone?” Mickey asked after 5 minutes in Ian’s apartment.

“What gave it away? The lack of another human’s presence or the fact that everything about me screams “lonely loser”?” Ian said and laughed but deep inside he felt like screaming because he just invited his hot boss in his apartment and he wasn’t sure he would keep his hands to himself because he was shitty as self-control. He would try though.

“The first one” Mickey laughed “and you’re not a lonely loser. I live alone too. Does that make me a loser?” Mickey was only acting serious to mess with Ian but the redhead didn’t pick on that and he truly thought he just insulted his boss.

“Oh my god, I didn’t mean it like that” he wanted to continue but Mickey started laughing again. “What’s so funny?” Ian asked confused.

“Your face man, you should see how freaked out you were. Calm down, I was just messing with you” Ian relaxed and even laughed a little. “You need to work on your chill man, you’re very stressed around me. I told you, if we’re not at the office I’m not your boss” was Mickey trying to imply something here? Cause that’s how it sounded to Ian. But he was too much of a chicken to actually ask him anything.

“A friend of mine keeps telling me the exact same thing”

“What? That I’m not your boss outside the office?” Mickey asked confused and Ian laughed.

“No, that I need to work on my chill. Am I really that uptight?” he asked scratching the back of his neck.

“Well I don’t know you well enough to say that. You can’t really know a person just by having small talk in the office a few times a day” well Ian didn’t really know what to say to that so of course he said something stupid.

“Would you like to?” he asked with an idiotic expression of his face.

“Would I what?” Mickey asked confused again.

“Like to know me better?” Ian really didn’t know what made his say that. It was such an idiotic move.

“I wouldn’t mind that” well he wasn’t expecting this answer. He just realized they were standing way to close and he can’t remember how that happened. He suddenly forgot how to breathe.

“How about that coffee?” Mickey asked all of the sudden, a weird smirk on his face. Ian tried to recover from the mini coma he fell into a few seconds ago and cleared his throat.

“Yeah, coffee, I’m going to go make some” he said with a weird voice. Mickey was still smirking, which kind of bothered Ian. Was he enjoying Ian’s poor flirting skills?

“Why are you smirking? Do I amuse you?” he asked and Mickey laughed

“A little. I mean, you’re so bad at this”

“Well, excuuuuse me for being bad at flirting with my boss” he said with a sarcastic tone.

“So we’re flirting now?” Mickey asked and raised an eyebrow just to mess a little more with Ian.

“No, I wasn’t…I mean…ugggh I don’t know”

“You’re very cute when you struggle to find your words” Mickey said and giggled.

“You think I’m cute?” Ian asked with a dumb smile on his face.

“Go make that coffee and stop asking stupid questions.” Ian rolled his eyes and went into the kitchen.

They stayed on the couch and talked for what seemed like hours. They were getting to know each other. After a coffee, 2 beers and something to eat Mickey looked at his watch.

“Man I really have to go, I promised my friend I would go by her apartment earlier today” he said and got up from the couch. Ian nodded and followed Mickey to the front door.

They were sitting awkwardly there, neither knew what to do or say. Ian suddenly got closer and saw that Mickey wasn’t flinching. He looked into his blue eyes and then at his lips. He was having trouble swallowing and he felt like he had a rock in his stomach. Mickey was feeling the same. They were both leaning in when Ian’s phone started to ring inside his pocket and made him jump a little. Well that ruined everything. He growled and angrily took his phone out to answer it.

“What?” he asked

“Wow where’s the fire? Are you alright?” Lily’s voice came from the other line

“Fine, what do you want?” he asked with the same hostile tone.

“Uhm I’m downstairs, we were supposed to meet here in…well, now actually.” She said and Ian closed his eyes. Of course he forgot about that.

“Fuck, it’s 6 already?”

“Yes, are you sure you’re alright?” she asked again

“Yeah I’m sure. I’m not ready though. Come upstairs and wait for me” he said and gave Mickey a “I’m sorry” look. Mickey nodded.

“Coming right up” she said more cheerfully this time. Ian hung up.

“That’s my friend, Lily, from work. I was supposed to meet with her and some friend and I totally forgot.”

“No problem, I was just about to leave anyways. Just wished she would have called a minute later” he said and Ian smirked.

“Just a minute? Well that’s disappointing. Am I not worth more than one minute of your time?” he joked and Mickey laughed.

“Very funny Gallagher. I’ll see you around? Maybe tomorrow?” Ian liked the idea.

“Yeah, sounds great. What time?” he grinned

“I’ll give you a call”

“You have my number?” Ian asked and sounded like he was proud of himself for winning the grand prize.

“I have numbers from all of my employees”

“Sure you do. And I bet you call each and every one of them to see what they are doing over the weekend”

“Don’t get to cocky with me Gallagher or I’m going to reconsider that phone call” he said and smirked

“Yes sir!” he said and made a little salute, just like a soldier. Mickey rolled his eyes and laughed mumbling “cute dork” under his breath.

“Talk to you later” he said  

“I’ll be waiting” Ian said with a dreamy tone and opened the door. Lily was there with her hand in mid-air like she was just about to knock. She couldn’t see Mickey because he was a little behind the door.

“Oh my god, did you know your elevator is broken and I had to climb all those fucking stairs, I mean” Lily started talking when Ian opened the door but stopped when Mickey stepped from behind it. She had a shock expression all over her face, her brown eyes widened in horror.

“Uh Mr. Milkovich, hi” she said lamely and waved

“Hello, uhm Lily was it?” he asked and looked at Ian who nodded.

“Yes, Lily Lahey, sir” she said and smiled awkwardly. She didn’t know what was going on but she really needed to. She stepped inside the apartment.

“Nice to meet you. I’m leaving now, talk to you later, ok?” he turned back to Ian who nodded. Then Mickey stepped out and left. Ian closed the door and turned to face Lily who had her arms crossed and a questioning look on her face.

“Talk to you later? Ian, what did you do?” she asked with a high pitch voice.

“Nothing, really, we just hanged out for a few hours; that’s all.” he said and even blushed a little. That was lame.

“You hanged out? Define hanging out.”

“Two people talking about stuff” he said raising an eyebrow.

“Uhum, sure. And nothing else happened?” she squinted

“No?”

“Aha, something happened, tell me, pleaaaaseee”

“Nothing actually happened because you had to call right when it was about to happen” he snapped and she covered her mouth.

“Oh my god, you were going to kiss?” Ian closed his eyes and nodded.

“You hate me right now, don’t you?” she asked

“Well, I'm not saying I hate you. But if you were on fire and I had a glass of water, I’d drink it” Lily gasped

“You wouldn’t” she said with a fake tone and Ian laughed.

“Well I’m thinking about it”

“But Ian, you were the one who said that it wasn’t a good idea to start anything with him, that it was easier to just forget about him while you still can” Ian knew she was right and those were his own words after all.

“I don’t think I want that anymore. It’s just, I don’t know how to explain it, I feel like another person when he’s around, like I can be myself.” Lily smiled “Not that I’m not myself around my family or around you but it’s different…I can’t..”

“Explain, yeah, I know. I’m not judging you or anything. I told you from the start to go for it, you were the one with all the morals and shit like that”

“So, where is Tessa?” he asked changing the subject

“She’s not coming anymore and by the looks of it neither are you” she said and gestured up and down his body with her arms.

“Yeah, wait for me until I’m ready?” he asked and she nodded. He smiled playfully and ran to his bedroom.

After 15 minutes he was ready and they headed out. Ian ended up having a good time and got home 4 hours later. It was almost 11 and he couldn’t help but feel like an old man because he was already tired. He decided against going to bed and opted for a movie instead. He was half-way through it when his phone beeped. It was a message from a number he didn’t recognize.

“Hi, it’s Mickey. We have to postpone tomorrow because I have to visit someone outside of town. Maybe another day?” Ian couldn’t help but feel sad. Was this really the reason or did Mickey freak out after he left his apartment and realized it was a mistake to get involved with him? He saved the contact as Mick and replied to the message.

“Sure, no problem. Hope everything’s ok” he was glad Mickey opted for a message and not a call because he would have sensed Ian’s disappointment in his tone.

“Don’t worry, nothing bad, just some family issue” the reply came 1 minute later. Maybe Mickey was telling the truth. He sure hoped so. He didn’t know what the hell to reply so he just didn’t. He knew that maybe he should have said something like good luck or cheesy shit like that but he really wasn’t good at all this small talk.

The mood for a movie was totally gone by now and he turned the tv off and went straight to bed and curled up in a ball of misery and disappointment.

 

* * *

 

 

That Sunday was very uneventful and it passed really quickly.

It was Monday morning and Ian was bored at his desk when Louise came by.

“Why are you so sad Ian? Did someone break your heart?” she asked nicely as she offered some cookies. Ian loved those cookies so he gladly accepted them.

“Not really, just I recently met someone and I really think I’m starting to feel something even though nothing actually happened between us.” He said and took a bite from a cookie.

“Oh dear, does he know how you feel?” she asked and Ian almost chocked when he heard the word “he”. Since when does she know he’s gay? He never told her.

“You know I’m gay?” he asked and she giggled.

“Oh dear boy, I may not be young but I do know how to read people. And besides, my late son was also gay.” She never talked about her son. All Ian knew is that he died 5 years ago and that he was only 22.

“Oh, so you don’t have a problem with it?”

“Of course not dear. Why would I?” she asked sincerely

“Well you know how people are” she nodded with a sad expression on her face.

“So, does he know?” she asked again

“Well he knows I’m interested but I don’t think he knows how interested I am”

“Well you have to tell him. Maybe he’s a little shy or something. Better sure than sorry is what I always say” she winked and went back to her own desk. That left Ian thinking. Should he say something?

 

* * *

 

 

Mickey was just about to leave for some meeting and as he stepped out of his office he couldn’t help but look at Louise who had a frown on her face.

“Is something wrong?” he asked her and she gave him a smile.

“Oh no dear, nothing wrong with me, just a little worried for a friend.” She said and left out the part where that friend is Ian.

“I hope they are alright” Mickey said sincerely. He smiled at his assistant but she could sense there was something going on with him as well.

“You don’t look very cheerful either. Is something wrong?” she asked

“No, just some relationship issues. Well, not relationship seeing as nothing actually happened between us yet.” he said and wondered why he was telling her all this. She had this thing, he didn’t know what it was about her but everyone would automatically open up to her.

“Oh I see” she said and something clicked in her mind. She was not born yesterday and she could put two and two together. A small smile appeared on her lips but didn’t say anything. “Well I hope he does something about it” she said and Mickey looked shocked at her.

“How did you?” he started to ask but lost his words along the way

“Oh honey, please, I know everything. You think I lived this long and didn’t learn a few things along the way?” she looked at her clock “Now go or you’ll be late for your meeting.” Mickey just nodded and turned around to leave because he sure as hell had no clue of what to say to her.

He walked passed Ian’s desk and stopped, looked at him and cleared his throat. Ian looked up and smiled shyly.

“Hi” Ian said

“Hi” Mickey said back. This was really awkward.

“So, I was thinking that maybe we can hang out again tonight, if you’re not busy of course” Mickey suggested and Ian grinned.

“Sure, I have no plans. Meet me after work at my place, let’s say, around 7?” he asked

“Sounds great. I’ll see you there” he smiled and turned around to leave, a smile wide across his face. Ian was smiling in the same way.

 

* * *

 

 

Ian was very nervous; he was pacing around his living room and kept looking at his watch. 6:55 it said. A second later there was a knock on the door. His heart was beating so fast he thought it would just jump right out of his chest. He rubbed his hands on his jeans because he was sweating like crazy and then proceeded to open the door.

“Hey” Mickey said grinning like a bastard.

“Hey yourself. Come on in” Ian said and got out of the way so the brunet could enter.

Just like the other night, they started talking about everything. Mickey told him some stories from his childhood and how once Mandy broke her arm because she thought she was Wonder Woman and she punched a wall to prove her brothers that she was telling the truth. Ian laughed and tried to imagine her doing that. He felt really comfortable around Mickey and Mickey felt the same around Ian.

Neither of them noticed that it was almost 1 in the morning until Mickey decided to check his phone

“Damn it’s already 1? Guess time flies when you’re having fun” he said

“Yeah, seems like it” Ian responded and looked at the man next to him.

“I guess I should be going” he said and stood up. Ian did the same.

“Probably” Ian answered but he started to get closer to the brunet.

“It’s just that we have to get up early tomorrow, you know, for work” Mickey tried to explain but all Ian did was to get even closer. He was now only inches from him. Mickey licked his lips and Ian watched him do so. Then Ian touched his hand sending shivers up and down Mickey’s body.

“Yeah, work” he said and he started to lean in.

Mickey was tired of this whole almost kissing stuff so he took control and grabbed the redhead by the back of his neck and crashed their lips together. Immediately Ian ran his hand up and down Mickey’s back and Mickey was playing with Ian’s hair. When they stopped the kiss, just so they could breathe again, Ian settled his forehead on Mickey’s and closed his eyes.

“Do you really have to go?” he asked, his voice still trembling

“Not really” Mickey said and crashed their lips together again. Ian smiled at that and proceeded to take Mickey’s shirt off. He then did the same with his own shirt and threw it on the ground. Ian grabbed Mickey and started to kiss him again. He also started to unbuckle Mickey’s pants which made Mickey pull away.

“What, here?” he asked and Ian grinned.

“You’re right, let’s go” he said grabbing his hand and leading the way to his bedroom. 


	7. You had this really annoying habit.

The next morning Ian woke up to an empty bed. He looked around the room and didn’t see any of Mickey’s clothes. He got up and went to the bathroom, he wasn’t there either. He looked all around the house, nothing. Just the cat sleeping on the kitchen counter like always. He hated that she did that. Wait, forget the cat, where the hell is Mickey? He started to panic. Of course he just left without a word, he freaked out because he realized this was a bad idea. But was it? Ian definitely didn’t think so. He sighed and went back to his bedroom. He grabbed his phone from the floor, it must have fallen when he threw his pants last night. He saw that he had a message. It was from Mickey. He swiped the screen quickly and entered the damn password getting it wrong in the first try. Damn it fingers, c’mon. He succeeded in the second try and the message appeared

Mick: I know you’re freaking out so don’t, Freckles. I only left because I had to change my damn clothes, don’t want to show up at work with the same clothes as yesterday, ok? I also didn’t want to wake you up at 5:30 am. So calm down, take a shower, drink a coffee, eat something and we’ll see each other at work. Oh and something else, your cat sleeps on the kitchen counter, that’s weird.

Ian couldn’t help but smile. So he didn’t freak out after all. And he cares about his sleep, that’s cute. He decided to reply

Ian: I didn’t freak out for your information and my cat always sleeps there, I know, it’s annoying. See you at the office ;)

He threw his phone on the bed and went to take a shower. 15 minutes later he came out, got dressed, ate something, skipped the coffee and made a mental note to drink some at work, made sure the cat had enough food and water and left.

10 minutes later he was waiting for the elevator when Louise made her way next to him.

“You look cheerful this morning dear, you talked with that man you like so much?” she asked with a cheerful and questioning tone that made Ian smile.

“Sure did” is all he said and all she needed to hear to understand. She giggled.

“What’s keeping the elevator?” she asked and Ian shrugged.

“Maybe it’s broken?” Ian suggested. Next thing they knew, Mickey was standing next to them.

“Well good morning to you both” he said very chipper. Ian saw the expression on his face and wanted to burst out laughing. Louise noticed it too and she smiled. Ian wanted to say something but the sound of the elevator arriving cut him off. They all got inside and Ian pressed the button to the top floor. They were silent.

“How was your evening Mr. Milkovich?” Louise asked like she didn’t already know.

“Pretty good, yours?” he asked trying to sound not too happy.

“It was fine. Not as good as yours, I bet” she said and that made Ian laugh making both Mickey and Louise turn to him.

“What, like yours wasn’t?” she asked as the elevator doors opened and she stepped out. The other two looked at each other and then back at her but she was already walking to her desk. They both stepped out and looked at each other again.

“Do you think she knows?” they said together

“How?” Mickey asked

“Well she did ask me some questions yesterday and I told her about this guy I like and other stuff” Ian said and Mickey smirked

“Other stuff? Such as?”

“Oh none of your business” Ian teased and Mickey laughed.

“But seriously, do you think she figured it out?” Ian asked

“Well I wouldn’t be surprised. She did know I was gay even though I never actually told her or even did anything that could hint I was. She knows everything apparently.”

“Yeah she did the same thing to me too. I didn’t tell her either and yet she knew. Do you think she’ll tell everyone?” Ian asked but he wasn’t sure he believed it himself.

“Neah, she’s not the type. I’ll talk to her though” Mickey said and Ian nodded.

“So, last night” Ian began and Mickey smiled. He wanted to say something but then, Mandy happened.

“Oh you’re here. Finally. I want to talk to you, in my office, now.” she demanded and looked at Mickey. He nodded, turned around back to Ian, gave him an apologetic look and walked to her office.

Ian sighed and made his way to his desk. He was just sitting there when his work phone started to ring. He answered

“Ian, come into my office” Mandy’s voice was a bit grumpy and Ian instantly got scared. Did she find out already? What the hell? Crap, crap, crap.

“You wanted to see me” Ian said lamely as he entered the office. Mickey was there, sitting on a chair in front of her desk.

“Yes, close the door” this was not good. He needed to say something first

“Look, I know it’s not the best idea we had but uhm you know it just sort of happened and” he stopped because both of the people in the room gave him a weird look. Mandy was “what the hell are you talking about” and Mickey was more of a “shut the fuck up, NOW!!!!” so he stopped and cleared his throat.

“What the hell are you talking about? What just sort of happened?” she asked

“Oh uhm you know, I suggested we change the brand of coffee we use because the other one just wasn’t doing it for me” did he just fucking say that? That was the best thing he could come up with as an excuse? Coffee brand? He looked horrified over to Mickey who had his eyes closed and a hand rubbing his right temple. Yep, he was stupid.

“Uhm ok, great news but that wasn’t what I was going to say” she said looking a little confused. “There’s someone looking for you, he was here like 15 minutes ago, acting all weird, asking when you get here. I told his to call you on your cell because this wasn’t a visiting center but he said he didn’t have your new number. He looked pissed off or something like that.” She paused and stood up “Look Ian, I don’t care who you’re sleeping with but please don’t bring your problems to work with you, next time, tell him to show up at your door and not my office. Got it?” she was really serious, which was rare for Mandy.

“Uhn did he leave a name cause I really don’t know who you’re talking about” Ian said confused.

“Yes, and o number. He said you should call him.” Ian gestured his hands for her to actually tell him this name and number.

“Oh yeah, let me look. Yes, his name is Tom and here is his number” she said and handed him a piece of paper. The look on Ian’s face was priceless.

“The fuck? What the hell does he fucking want?” Mandy frowned when she heard him.

“Is there a problem?” she asked. Ian looked back up from the paper and saw her expression. Then he looked at Mickey and saw a whole other expression. Fuck.

“No, just an asshole I thought I got rid of. I even changed my number” he said and looked at the paper again. “Sorry about this, it won’t happen again. I have to go” he said and without looking back at them he stormed out of the office.

Who the hell does he think he is coming here and ruining his day? More importantly, how the hell did he find out where he worked because they broke up a month before he started working here at the call center and that was over a year ago. He thought about it and then grabbed his phone and dialed the number.

“Yes?”

“What the hell Tom?” Ian said angrily

“Oh so you’re alive? Glad to know you changed your phone number. Classic Ian” he said and Ian couldn’t help but laugh bitterly

“Oh spare me this bullshit Tom and tell me what the hell you want” he demanded

“Just wanted to talk to you, are you at work?”

“Not that it’s any of your business but yes, now stop stalking me and leave me alone” he said and hung up. He immediately blocked the number so he wouldn’t call back and threw his phone on the desk. Fuck Tom and his fucked up head.

He really wanted to concentrate but couldn’t. Mickey was still in Mandy’s office and Ian couldn’t stop thinking about the look on his face. He looked worried, like he just realized he got involved with a guy with ex-boyfriends that still stalk him. Great, just great. Ian was lost in his worried thoughts when someone brought him out of them.

“What the hell are YOU DOING HERE?” Ian yelled when he saw the man in front of him. Tom smiled like he did nothing wrong. He looked casually around with his hands in his pockets then looked back at Ian.

“Well, I tried to call you back but surprise, surprise, you blocked my number again. Did you get to change it yet?” he joked and even laughed at it. Ian rolled his eyes. “You know, I kept asking myself why you just dumped me like that. What did I do wrong?” Ian laughed. Was he being serious right now?

“Oh I don’t know, you had this really annoying habit. It's called breathing.” Tom laughed at Ian’s response.

“Yes, classic Ian, answering with witty sarcastic comebacks that protect him like a shield.” Ian was aware that he wasn’t supposed to be arguing at his workplace but this guy really asked for it. They also weren’t aware that both Mandy and Mickey were standing in front of her office looking at them.

“Oh forgive me for not crying right now because of what you think about my comebacks but rest assured that I googled "Who gives a shit" and my name wasn't in the search results.”

“Dear Jesus man, grow up already and talk like a normal person” Tom said and threw his hands in the air.

“Loser says what?” Ian whispered and Tom squinted

“What?” but then he got it and rolled his eyes.

“See, this is what I’m talking about. You always complained about me but you never even thought about how annoying and childish you were. Like right now, instead of talking like grown-ups you just answer with stupid sarcastic jokes like a teenager.”

“Look man, instead something happened to Laura or Hazel you have no right to be here, so I suggest you just leave”

“Sure, it’s always about my sisters, you know, I bet you liked them more than you liked me all those years we were together” Tom said and Ian grinned

“Actually, I think you're right” he said just to annoy him more. The other man sighed.

“Fine, I’ll leave, you’re just a nutcase anyways” Tom said and turned around to leave

“I’ve been called worse, you know?” Ian said and that made Tom turn back around

“Yeah, like what?”

“Your boyfriend” Ian responded and Tom snorted. He wanted to say something but was interrupted when they heard someone laugh. They both looked in the direction of Mandy’s office and saw her there, a hand over her mouth to stop her from laughing more and Mickey, right next to her with his eyes wide. Ian’s jaw fell open and he suddenly felt ashamed. How come it never occurred to him to look and make sure no one was around?

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry. He’s leaving now, aren’t you?” he turned around and looked at Tom who threw his hands in the air, defeated.

“I’ll go, I thought we can have a decent conversation but I suppose I was wrong. Have a great life psycho” he said and turned around again but he was stopped, AGAIN.

“What did you just call him?” Mickey snapped and Ian almost fainted. Oh no, no, no no, this wasn’t happening.

“What?” Tom said confused.

“I asked” he stepped closer “WHAT.DID.YOU.JUST.CALL.HIM?” he got closer to Tom with every word.

“Who the hell are you? His new boyfriend? I must warn you, he’s a handful and a nutcase, you better get out while you still can” Tom said and laughed. Ian closed his eyes because he wasn’t sure he wanted to see what came next because the smile Mickey had wasn’t a happy or cheerful one.

“Nutcase huh?” Mickey said and punched Tom right in the nose. Mandy screamed

“Oh my god Mickey, what the hell is wrong with you?” she shouted and ran towards her brother. Ian opened his eyes when he heard Mandy.

“Oh my god. See what you did by coming here? Get the fuck out” Ian shouted at Tom who was trying to stand up.

“What the hell, he’s the one who punched me and you’re throwing me out?” he asked

“Well it’s his company so yeah” Ian said and looked over at Mickey who was still kind of laughing, or something like that. He wasn’t sure.

“Oh so now you’re going straight for the boss? Damn, I underestimated you, congrats” Tom laughed and shook his head “You know, at least back then you had morals, now you’re just a damn whore” now it was Ian’s turn to get mad so he grabbed Tom by his shirt’s collar.

“Not that it’s any of your business but I ain’t anyone’s whore” he said and smashed his forehead into Tom’s nose making him fall again.

Everyone who worked on that floor was looking at the horror scene that was occurring there but no one dared to say a word.

“IAN, WHAT THE HELL?” Mandy shouted again “You” she said and pointed to Tom “get yourself together and stop being such a girl, it’s just a nose” she gestured at the crying man “and get the hell out of my company” she added. “And you two, in my office, NOW!” she said and turned to the other two men.

“Fine, I going but don’t you think that pretty head of yours if safe” Tom said to Ian and Mickey moved to punch him again but Ian stopped him

“He’s not worth it” he told the brunet and he nodded when he felt Ian’s hand of his shoulder.

Tom left and people started to walk away, back to their desks. Mickey and Ian were standing in Mandy’s office, both in the two chairs in front of her desk. She was pacing like a mad woman behind them and then went to take a seat on her chair. She had both her elbows on the desk, her palms covering her face. She sighed and looked at them.

“What the hell was all that? Who the fuck is he and why the fuck did you do that Mickey?” she asked as calmly as she could

“He’s an ex-boyfriend who I broke up with over a year ago because he was a jealous control freak and he just suddenly thought it was a good idea to look for me again” Ian explained as well as he could

“Ok, ok, I get that.” She said “But Mickey, he’s not your ex-boyfriend so why the hell did you punch him?”

“He called Ian a psycho” he said calmly

“And you thought “hmmm let me punch him for that?” That sounded like a good idea in your little head?”

“I just snapped” he simply said

“Let me ask you two another thing. Is it true what he said?” they both looked at her confused so she sighed “about the dating thing. Are you two involved?” she asked just so they would both understand.

“No, he just assumed that because I reacted like that but no, we’re not involved” Mickey said and actually sounded convincing. That made Ian wonder, was that just a onetime thing for Mickey?

“Alright, I’ll believe you even though maybe I shouldn’t.” she finally said after looking at them for a few seconds. “Ian, I hope this was a onetime thing and he won’t be showing his ass here again”

“I don’t think he’ll come back.” He said and looked at his hands ashamed. He knows this wasn’t a good thing, not even close and that if Mandy was any other person he would be fired by now. But it doesn’t look like that is going to happen.

“Ok, I’m going to let you two go because you’re going to be busy with people’s gossips anyways. Good luck with that btw” she said and winked.

They both started to walk out of the office at the same time and of course, people were waiting for them and when they opened the door everyone jumped and went back to work like nothing happened. Mickey clearly didn’t like that because he made a weird sound and the cleared his throat loud, so everyone would hear.

“Excuse me people, it would be great if you all aren’t going to make a big deal out of what happened. I didn’t do that because Ian is my boyfriend, I did it because the douchebag insulted him when clearly he was the psychopath nutcase. I don’t like it when people insult my employees. So there you go, you can continue with you work.” He said and everyone nodded.

He took a last look at Ian and went back to his office.

 

* * *

 

Ian was sitting on his couch with a glass of whiskey in his hands. People were calling him like crazy but he didn’t pick up. He didn’t even look to see who was calling. Lily, most likely. Then there was a knock on the door, then another one, then a loud bang and Ian growled and went to open it.

“Lily, I’m really not in the mood” he said as he opened the door. But that wasn’t Lily, it was Mickey.

“Wrong person firecrotch. Can I come in?” Ian didn’t answer, he just shrugged and made room for him to enter.

“You weren’t answering your phone. I thought maybe he came back for more” he said

“Just wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone after I made a fool of myself” he said and jumped on the couch again.

“I’m sorry that happened” Mickey simply said

“Don’t be. It wasn’t your fault. I used to date that maniac, not you. I should have kicked him out the second I saw him”

“Yeah but I started the damn fight. He was going to leave but I had to open my big mouth”

“Why did you do that anyway?” Ian asked as he took another sip from the drink and gestured to it as to ask Mickey if he wants some. He shook his head no.

“I don’t know, I just snapped. He doesn’t have a right to call you names when he’s not so sane either” he sighed “I don’t know what came over me. I blame you” he said and smiled at the redhead.

“Is that so?” he said and got up from the couch. “Well in that case, I must thank you properly for standing up for me” he was getting closer. Mickey raised both eyebrows.

“Well I don’t see why not. I did hurt my hand a little” he said and pretended that it hurt. Ian giggled.

“In that case, follow me” Ian grabbed the brunet’s arm and dragged him to the bedroom.

The next morning Mickey didn’t get up at 5:30 so he can go home to change his clothes. He made sure this time he had a spare of clothes in his car, just in case, of course.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry if this chapter sucked but I had guests over and I wrote it in a hurry this morning so I could finish it before they got here. They just left and I decided to post it :D


	8. I don't know what makes you stupid, but it really works.

“So are we going to talk about what happened yesterday?” Mickey asked Ian the next morning while they were staying in bed.

“Do we have time?” Ian asked

“It’s only 6 am. We have an hour before we need to get ready so yeah, I think we have time.” Mickey wasn’t going to let Ian weasel himself out of this.

“Fine, but let’s talk over some coffee because I can’t do this half asleep” Ian said and got out of bed. Mickey did the same and they went into the kitchen. As always, the cat was on the counter.

“Cleo, down” Ian said and to Mickey’s surprise she jumped off immediately.

“She actually listens to you? Cats never listen”

“And dogs always do? Please, it’s how you raise them.”

“Are we talking about pets now or children?” Mickey said and laughed.

“Funny man.” He said sarcastically. “But yeah, they are somehow like children. Anyways, do you really want to talk about how I behave with my cat?” Ian asked while preparing the coffee machine.

“No, you’re right. Tell me everything, from the beginning” Mickey took a seat on a chair at the table and waited for Ian to finish with the machine. He eventually did.

“It’s gonna be done in about 3 minutes” Ian said and gestured towards the coffee machine. Mickey nodded.

“So, I met him 4 years ago. I was only 21 at the time and well, a little naïve” Mickey raised an eyebrow at that “Ok, I was very naïve. Anyways, I met him at a party a friend of mine had, not important. We got to talking and I found him fascinating, don’t ask me why because I have no fucking clue. I was in still in college back then and he had just graduated and started working for his father’s company. We talked for hours and when I had to leave he asked me for my phone number. I gave it and he called me the next day and we went on a date and well 2 months later I already moved in with him.” the machine made a sound that the coffee was ready. Ian got up, poured it in 2 cups, asked Mickey if he wanted sugar, he said no so he came back with both cups and took a seat.

“I got along well with him, his family liked me and for me to find someone who had a family that accepted him for being gay was like finding a treasure chest. His parents were great, they liked me a lot and his sisters, oh man, they were the best.” Ian stopped for a bit because he took a sip even though it was still too hot. “So, Laura and Hazel are his sisters, twins actually. They both are like 22 now so they were 18 back then. Anyways, Tom and I lived here in the city in his apartment, it was a big apartment and it had like 4 rooms, I kept asking why he needed such a huge place but he just said it’s how he liked to live. Anyways, that’s not even the point. So after like 2 years of living together he started to act a little weird. Whenever I would get home a little late because I happened to stop by over at Lip’s or Fiona’s he would start asking me a lot of questions like “who were you with or why were you there” and stuff like that. At first I thought he was just being, I don’t know, careful so I don’t get hurt, I don’t know, I guess I wasn’t thinking about it that much. But over the next few months it started to get worse, he was very possessive, he was calling me like 100 times a day and I swear, I’m not exaggerating, one time, I had this crappy job and we were in some meeting so I left my phone in my bag and when I got out 2 hours later I had 150 missed calls and 50 texts. It was crazy. We got into a huge fight after that, I told him he’s exaggerating and he accused me I was cheating on him even though he had no proof of that or anything. I told him that I was going to sleep over at Lip’s that night so he can calm down and think about what the hell is wrong with him and when I wanted to leave he just grabbed me and when I tried to pull away he pushed me and I fell and almost broke my arm like a stupid kid. So a thing led to another and I left the next day with all my stuff, Lip helped me, I stayed at his place for a month until I found this place, well Lip found it, then the next week I started working at the call center and well I think that’s that.” He took another sip from the coffee. Yes, now it wasn’t hot anymore.

“Well that was, uhm, fuck, I really don’t know what to say. He sounds like a crazy person” Mickey said and Ian laughed

“And he calls me psycho. But what are you gonna do? I sure know how to pick ‘em, right?” he said laughing again and Mickey frowned.

“Nooo, I wasn’t referring to you, God, it’s just I used to date a dude in high school who was also kind of jealous of everyone I talked to. That’s why I said that, sorry, I should have told you about that too before saying that”

“You’re a dork, you know that?” Mickey said and leaned in to kiss the redhead.

“Fine, but at least an adorable dork, no?” Ian asked grinning.

“We’ll see” Mickey responded and took a sip. “If we’re on the subject of stories, what’s her story?” Mickey asked and pointed to the cat who was sitting on the edge of the couch in the living room.

“Cleo, well I decided one day that I wanted a cat, went to a shelter and I immediately fell in love with her. She was such a precious little fur ball and she followed me around everywhere while I looked around at other cats. I just had to take her” Ian was smiling while saying this and it made Mickey smile too.

“You are such a dork” Mickey said again “Ok, an adorable dork” he finally said and Ian grinned in victory.

“So, how are we going to do this? We can’t go into work together. Just yesterday you claimed we weren’t involved and we arrive together the next day? And what about your clothes?” Ian asked

“I have some in the car, came prepared this time” Ian laughed when he heard

“Well you sure are pretty confident about this whole thing, aren’t you? How did you know I was going to let you stay here?”

“Please, like you could turn this down?” he said and gestured to his own body moving his hands up and down while talking. Ian almost spit his coffee.

“Well I can’t argue with that”

“Come on freckles, let’s take a shower” Mickey suggested and Ian quickly took another sip from the coffee before he followed Mickey.

 

* * *

 

 

“So, want to tell me about what happened yesterday and why the hell you didn’t answer my calls?” Lily started talking the second Ian went in to the recreational room for lunch. He rolled his eyes.

“Because I needed space. And what happened was that Tom showed up and made a scene, Mickey punched him for calling me a psycho, then I punched him too for calling me a whore, then everyone thought me and Mickey are together, then Mickey told everyone it’s not true. End of story” he said

“Well that clears it all then. Great story.” She said sarcastically. “And how are you and Mickey going to keep this hidden now that people actually have motive to suspect you?”

“Could you say that louder? I don’t think the man that’s in a coma in the hospital across the street heard you!” Ian said in a whisper.

“Calm down, no one heard me. So, what are guys going to do? And by Tom you mean crazy jealous guy Tom?”

“Don’t know what are we going to do and yes, that Tom”

“Wow, what came over him to look for you after all this time?” she asked

“Who the fuck knows? The question is, who told him where I work?”

“Next time you go through something like this, at least give me a text to let me know you’re alright, ok?” she asked and he nodded.

“I should go now, my break is almost over, I only came to see you so I can tell you what happened because I knew you would have questions” Lily said she understood and after saying goodbye Ian left.

 

* * *

 

 

“Is something bothering you dear? Did you and Mr. Milkovich fight because of that baboon that came here yesterday?” Louise asked after seeing Ian sitting alone at his desk on his lunch break. He lied to Lily when he said his break was over, he just wasn’t in the mood to talk to her right now.

“No, nothing like that, it’s just I was wondering who told him where I worked. I’m not in touch with anyone from my past that had anything to do with him so how does he know? It bugs me.” He didn’t even bother to explain to her that nothing was happening between him and Mickey because he knew very well she found out about them on her own. Plus, she doesn’t seem to mind so why bother?

“I’m sure everything’s going to be fine dear, you have Mickey there for you, he’s a wonderful young man” she really was a sweet lady.

“Yeah, he is. Listen, I hope you don’t think that me, being with him had anything to do with the fact that I got this job because” he was interrupted.

“Not at all dear, I don’t think the worst in people. And don’t worry, you’re secret’s safe with me, I know how people are and how they would talk if they knew. Well, some still think it may be true but don’t you listen to them, they are just jealous that you are good at your job” she said and patted him on the shoulder. “Now, I have to get back to my desk, talk to you later Ian” she said and he smiled

“Sure thing. Thank you, for this talk” he said and she nodded.

He got back to his work and 2 hours later his desk phone started to ring.

“Ian, in my office, please” Mandy’s voice said and he did as told

“What’s up?” he asked as he entered the office.

“Take a seat” he did

“Look, I may not be that smart but I’m not an idiot either.” She began and Ian started to understand where all of this was going “So I’m going to say this once and you better listen, understand?” he nodded “I didn’t believe a word Mickey said yesterday, maybe if you wouldn’t have said that pathetic coffee story when I first asked you into my office, maybe then I would have bought it. But after you so lamely made up that story to justify what you were actually going to say and after what Tom said in the hallway and Mickey’s reaction I kind of figured it out. Would you look at me, acting like Nancy Drew and shit like that.” She laughed but Ian didn’t. He knew she wasn’t laughing because the situation was actually funny. “I’m going ahead and saying it, I don’t actually care where either of you stick your dicks but so help me God, if you two make another scene like that one again, you are out of here so fast you won’t even remember you worked here in the first place. Did I make myself clear?” she asked very serious and Ian had to swallow before he spoke

“Yep, very clear” he said and she nodded

“Good, now, are you serious about this thing with my brother or are you going to break his heart just like the other guy did?” she asked and Ian was genuinely confused

“What other guy?” he asked

“He didn’t tell you yet? Guess he’s not ready, he’ll tell you when he is. Now, answer my question”

“Yes, I’m serious, I really like him” he said and smiled.

“Good, that’s what I wanted to hear. Now, back to work” he got up to leave but not before saying

“Thanks for not kicking me out after what happened yesterday”

“It wasn’t entirely your fault so it wouldn’t have been fair. And besides, you’re good at your job, you don’t deserve to get fired for something so stupid” he smiled at her and nodded. Then left her office.

He was almost done with work when his cellphone started to ring. It was Mickey.

“Yes?”

“I’m leaving in about 20 minutes, want to do something tonight?” Mickey asked and Ian couldn’t help but smile

“Sure, wanna come by my place again? I have this tequila bottle that has been standing on my shelf for far too long” he said and Mickey laughed

“Sounds like a bad idea so yeah, I’ll be there after I go home to get some things” he said. They said goodbye and hung up.

Ian finished his work, told Mandy he was leaving and met up with Lily downstairs and walked her to the cab station.

“He’s coming over tonight?” she asked after she opened the cab door. He nodded and smiled “You perv, have fun and remember, no glove, no love” she said and got into the cab and closed the door. Ian laughed and stood still a few more seconds before he made his way to his apartment.

 

* * *

 

 

When he entered he got a text from Mickey saying he was just heading home and that he’ll be there in about 40 min, an hour max. Ian decided to take a shower. About 50 minutes later there was a knock on the door.

“Do I know you?” Ian asked as he opened the door

“No sir, I am just here to fix the boiler” Mickey said with a fake southern accent that made Ian laugh out loud.

“Man that sounded like the opening of a bad porno” Ian said and got out of the way so Mickey could enter.

“That was the idea.” Mickey said and took his shoes of. “Where’s that cat?”

“Well aren’t you all interested in my cat all of the sudden. One might think you’re only with me for her”

“Oh no, you discovered my plan. Whatever will I do now? I am doomed” Mickey pretended he was devastated.

“You know, you should leave your current job and go be an actor. I’m sure you’ll win an Oscar in no time”

“Very funny Gallagher. Now where’s that tequila?” he grinned

“Cutting right to the chase aren’t we?” Ian said and kissed him.

An hour, a bottle of tequila and half a bottle of whiskey later they were laughing like idiots on the floor.

“You know if you’d be this fun at the office maybe people wouldn’t be so afraid of you” Ian said between giggles

“Yeah cause going drunk at the office is such a good idea” Mickey said and laughed

Ian’s phone started to ring and he saw it was Fiona.

“It’s my sister, should I answer?” he asked but before Mickey could tell him he answered

“Yes beautiful sister of mine?”

“Ian, are you drunk?” his sister Friona asked

“No, just a little drunk” he answered and she laughed at how stupid he sounded

“Ok, why are you drunk on a Wednesday evening at 8 o’clock? And who is there with you?” she asked hearing another person laughing

“Well that was all very specific and I have no idea where your dog is but I am home with my boyfriend.” Fiona sighed because Ian never made sense when he was drunk so she let it slide.

“Anyways, I called to ask where Lip is because he isn’t answering his phone”

“Lip is out talking with some guy about renting a place for your surprise birthday party next month” he said without even realizing it.

“You guys are throwing me a party?” she asked

“Yes, but shhh, don’t tell Fiona, it’s a surprise” he giggled and Fiona just laughed.

“Ok buddy, I won’t tell her, now be careful and don’t drink anymore cause you have work tomorrow, ok?” she asked

“Yes mum, I’ll do my homework, I promise” Fiona just rolled her eyes and hung up because she knew nothing clear will come out of his mouth.

“Who was that?” Mickey asked half asleep

“My mom, think, or maybe Fiona” he answered, also half asleep.

They both fell asleep on the floor a few seconds later.

 

* * *

 

 

“Oh my god what the hell?” Mickey asked at 5 in the morning when he woke up on the floor. His head was hurting like a motherfucker. “Ian, wake up” he shook Ian and he eventually woke up

“Oh my god my head hurts” he said and tried to stand up. He looked around the room to see the damage. It wasn’t so bad, just the 2 bottles and some papers scattered around but that was about it. “I think I’m going to be sick” Ian said and started to run to the bathroom.

“Are you ok in there?” Mickey asked after 5 minutes. Ian opened the door, he looked as pale as a piece of paper

“Bad news, I think I am pregnant” Ian joked

“Very funny ginger. Are you ok now?” he asked again

“Yes, I think I got it all out. I’m hungry though”

“Really, you could eat after that?” Mickey asked and the thought of food made him want to puke as well.

“Yeah, I’ll go eat something”

“Yack, suit yourself, I’m taking a damn shower cause I smell like a distillery” Mickey said and entered the bathroom when Ian exited

“On second thought, shower sounds better” Ian said and followed Mickey.

“I’ll go now so I can get there first, like yesterday. You can leave in about 10 minutes, ok?” Mickey said as he was getting his shoes on.

“Sound good, see you there” Ian said and leaned over to kiss him.

After Mickey left he went into the kitchen to clean and wash the dished. When he was done and about to leave the apartment his phone started to ring. It was Lip

“What the hell Ian?” he asked

“What, what?”

“Are you really that dumb?” Lip asked and Ian was seriously getting annoyed

“What the hell is even happening?” he said and closed his front door. He walked over to the elevator. Thank god it was working again because he was in no mood to walk so many stairs with a hangover.

“You told Fiona that’s what’s happening”

“I told Fiona what?” he was really confused

“You told her about her SURPRISE birthday party” what the hell was he talking about?

“No I didn’t” Ian objected

“Yes you did”

“When the hell did I?” he got out of the elevator and walked towards the exit of his building.

“Last night when she called you and you were drunk out of your mind and you told her” Ian tried to remember anything from last night. He vaguely remembered a phone call but that was about it.

“I don’t remember, I swear”

“Seriously Ian, I don't know what makes you stupid, but it really works.” He said coldly and that made Ian angry. It’s not like he killed someone.

“Oh very funny, this is coming from the one who fell out of the stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down.” If Lip was going to play this with insults so was Ian.

“Whatever man, next time you get drunk don’t answer your damn phone” he said and hung up.

Ian arrived at the office a few minutes later and he was very angry, very, very angry.

“Hey Ian, what’s up?” a coworker greeted while waiting for the elevator

“Nothing” he answered bitterly

“Wow, who pissed in your cheerios?” she asked and laughed

“Not in the mood Aura” he said and she just threw her hand in the air

“Fine, forget I asked, Jesus”

He knew he was being rude to the wrong person but he hated it when Lip exaggerated like that. It wasn’t the first time and it won’t be the last. It’s just that now that Lip managed to get him pissed off he’s going to be like this all day. This is going to be a fun day.


	9. Oh my god it speaks!!!!

It’s been a week since Ian and Lip argued over the fact that Ian told Fiona about her surprise party when he got drunk. Ian still refused to answer Lip’s calls even though Mickey often suggested he should swallow his pride and answer. Ian made a comment that he would rather swallow something else at which Mickey just laughed and rolled his eyes accusing the redhead of trying to change the subject.

“You’re no fun, you know that?” Ian said as he rested his chin in his palms. He was sitting at his desk and Mickey was just in front of it.

“Well I’ve been told before, but seriously, you should call him or at least answer when he calls.”

“He stopped calling a day ago. I guess he gave up” Ian said and shrugged

“Well even more of a reason for you to call”

“I’ll think about it. Are you coming over tonight? It’s a Friday so we don’t have to worry about work tomorrow” Ian grinned

“Yeah but I’ll get there at about 9 cause I have this thing with Mandy”

“Oh yeah, I remember she told me something a few days ago. Fine, bring pizza or something”

“Ok, I have to go now, see you later” Mickey said and left.

Ian still had half an hour left before he could go home but he already finished his work. So he got his phone out of his pocket and texted Lily. He knew she finished at 5 but maybe she was still there.

Ian: Hey, you still at work?

Lily: Yeah, was just about leave, why?

Ian: Finished work but still have half an hour left and I can’t leave. Come here and stay with meeee

Lily: Ughhhh fine, but you’ll owe me, I’m fucking starving.

3 minutes later she was in front of his desk

“So, where’s lover boy?” she asked and smirked

“Again, tone it down with the Mickey questions at work.” He whispered “In Mandy’s office, they are leaving in a few minutes to attend some Gala or some boring shit like that” he said

“Mind if I bring a chair and sit next to you? I’m not about to sit here for half an hour” she asked and Ian nodded and even pointed to a chair a few feet away. She went and grabbed it, then placed it right next to Ian’s.

“Oh let me show you some pics I took of James while he was sleeping” she said and took her phone from her pocket. Ian didn’t even have time to protest.

“Look how cute he isssss” she said and shoved the phone into Ian’s face

“Yeah very but seriously I never asked for half nude pictured of the barista from the coffee shop across the street” Ian said and laughed but still looked at the photos as she was swiping through them.

“Yeah but he’s adorable and he’s amazing in bed” she added and then they heard someone clearing their throat next to them. They both looked up and saw Mickey with Mandy, standing there with their eyebrows raised.

“Oh uhm hello, we were just uhm looking at some photos, PG-13 stuff, I swear” she explained and both of the Milkovichs laughed

“I’m sure, well enjoy the photos of the barista from the coffee shop across the street, Ian” Mandy said loud enough so the entire building could hear. Mickey just giggled next to her.

“I wasn’t enjoying them” Ian shouted and got up because the two siblings were already heading to the elevator. They both laughed and then entered it leaving Ian standing there like a moron

“That was kind of funny” Lily said and placed her phone on Ian’s desk

“Yeah if you consider my humiliation funny” he said and took a seat in his usual chair.

“Calm down, Mickey isn’t going to believe you’re thinking about my boyfriend” Ian rolled his eyes.

They stayed there until 6 and then left in a hurry because they were both starving. 10 minutes later Ian arrived home. He was greeted by his cat, like always. He threw his bag next to the door and went straight to the fridge.

It was 9:15 when Mickey arrived. He knocked on the door when he heard “Come in, it’s open” so he did. He saw Ian standing on the couch watching tv.

“Hey” he said not even taking his eyes from the screen

“Hey to you too, what are you watching that’s got you so hypnotized?’ Mickey asked and took a seat next to the taller man. He kissed him on the forehead.

“How to get away with murder. I kept saying I was going to watch it but never actually did and now that the first season is over I said I would and Oh my fucking god!” he said still not looking from the screen. Mickey took the remote and hit pause.

“Hey, I was watching that” Ian protested.

“And it’s not going anywhere. Is this what you’ve been doing since you got home?” he asked and Ian nodded

“Dork” Mickey mumbled and laughed

“What? It’s my favorite show” he said and crossed his arms but Mickey raised an eyebrow

“Really now? That’s what you said about Game of thrones, about Criminal Minds, about House of cards, about Braking Bad, about Sherlock, about Doctor Who, about Modern Family, about Scandal, about Bones, about American Horror Story, should I go one cause we are going to be at it until next year” he listed and Ian rolled his eyes

“Well I can’t help it that I like a lot of shows, besides, you like them too so don’t try and act cool and shit like that” he pouted and Mickey laughed again

“I never said I don’t like them. Besides, I didn’t watch this one and I don’t want to get spoilers”

“Oh even better, we can start now. I’ll put the first episode now” Ian said and grinned like a boy on Christmas Day

“You want to watch it, again?” Mickey asked and Ian nodded cheerfully

“Fine, play the damn episode then.” He said and made himself comfortable on the couch.

They started watching, eating the pizza Mickey brought and drinking the beers Ian had in the fridge. 4 episodes later Mickey turned to Ian

“Well you weren’t wrong, this is amazing but I’m kind of tired, I want to sleeeeeep” Mickey protested and Ian growled

“Ohhhh but it’s just getting interesting, c’mon, one more? Pleaseee?” he pleaded but Mickey wasn’t going to crack.

“Nope, bed, now!” he said and got up “We don’t have to go immediately to sleep, you know” he added and Ian smirked

“Well then I guess we can always watch the rest tomorrow” he said and followed Mickey to the bedroom.

 

* * *

 

 

“What the actual fuck?” Ian said as a loud pounding on the front door woke him up. He looked at the clock, 9:30 am. Who the hell was it? He looked over to where Mickey was and saw that the brunet wasn’t bothered by the sound so he got up and went to see who the hell had nothing else better to do on a Saturday morning.

He opened the front door to see Lip standing there.

“About fucking time. What the hell Ian, a week of unanswered phone calls and a visit to your apartment is what it takes now to actually get to see you?” Lip said sarcastically as he entered the apartment. Ian didn’t answer “Oh I forgot, the silent treatment, you’re giving me the silent treatment just like when we were five, very mature” he threw his hands in the air.

“Stop being so bitchy” Ian finally said

“Oh my god it speaks!!!!” Lip immediately said and laughed.

“Oh stop it, if I wanted a bitch I would've bought a dog” Ian rudely said again and turned around to casually look in his fridge, ignoring the glares Lip threw his way.

“Fine Ian, be this way. I only wanted to know why the hell you told Fiona and then you just stopped talking to me for a week” he wanted to say something more but Ian interrupted him

“Really now? So you calling me an idiot for doing something that isn’t actually that important should be fine? Lip, it’s a birthday party, not the secrets of the entire American Government”

“Like you didn’t insult me back. Look, fine, maybe I exaggerated but it still wasn’t cool of you to stop taking my calls. If we’re going to argue and stop talking over stuff like this what’s going to happen when we have an argument that actually is important? We’re just going to stop talking to each other for the rest of our lives?” Ian listened to Lip and thought he actually made sense. Both of them exaggerated with this and maybe it was time to end it.

“Fine, you’re right, I’m sorry. Let’s just forget it happened. Want some coffee?” Ian suggested and Lip nodded.

They were drinking coffee and talking when Mickey came out of the room, scratching his eyes

“Ian, have you see my” he stopped when he actually looked over to where Ian was and saw that he wasn’t alone. Lip was there and the expression on his face was priceless.

“Oh uhm hi” Mickey said awkwardly

“Uhm hi.” Lip responded and turned back to Ian “Care to explain?”

“Well yeah, did I forget to mention I’m seeing Mickey?” Ian asked innocently

“Kind of, yes, you forgot to mention you’re dating your BOSS” he said. Mickey felt really awkward and before any of them noticed he slipped back into the bedroom.

“What? You’re dating mine!” Ian protested and Lip laughed

“It’s not the same thing Ian, what the hell?”

“Oh cut the crap, it’s not like we’re doing something illegal. He was single, I was single, we are both normal men that like each other a lot and that happen to work in the same place”

“No, you work there, he’s the boss of the place, there’s a difference” Lip tried to explain

“Fuck you Lip, you dated your college professor, you have no fucking right to tell me who to date”

“And remember how that turned out? Not good.” he was trying to prove a point but it wasn’t going to work

“That doesn’t mean it will be the same for me. Look, I would like it if you would just stop telling me what to do, please, I’m a gown man and I think I can think for myself” he said and Lip shook his head

“Whatever, I’m not arguing with you twice in a day, I’ll just leave and let you join your boyfriend.” He said and gestured to the bedroom door. He got up, grabbed his jacket and stormed out.

“You can come out now, he left” he shouted so Mickey would hear him. 2 seconds later the door opened

“You look so adorable right now, all worried and embarrassed” Ian said and Mickey flipped him off.

“Fuck you man, you should have warned me he was here. I don’t like people seeing me in my boxers” he said and made his way towards where Ian was. He kissed him and took a seat next to him. “The fuck is your cat doing?” he asked when he saw the animal on the floor, her legs in the air.

“Morning gymnastics” Ian said and Mickey laughed

“Ok, weird cat, just like her owner” he said and Ian smirked.

They decided they would stay in today and be lazy and cute together, as Ian liked to call it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sory for the short and boring chapter but this is all the time I had. I'll try and post a longer one later tonight :D


	10. What do you mean I look shitty? I’m fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! Minor Character death!

It’s been 2 weeks since Lip found out about Ian and Mickey and 5 days until Fiona’s birthday. Ian tried to call Lip the next day but he didn’t pick up and he found it ironic. Maybe Lip was showing him how it is when someone wants to talk to you so they can explain what happened and the other person doesn’t pick up. Nicely done Lip, nicely done. So Ian didn’t insist but as it turned out Lip called him on Monday and they went for a coffee and talked about what happened. Ian explained how he and Mickey got together and that Mandy knows and she’s cool with it. He apologized to Lip for not telling him sooner and Lip said he understood. Everything was getting back to normal.

And here he was, at his desk on a Monday morning. Ian had just arrived when Mandy called him in her office.

“You wanted to see me?” he asked while entering and closing the door behind him.

“Yes, Lip already asked if I wanted to go to Fiona’s “not a surprise anymore” birthday party and said I would but I wanted to ask if Mickey is coming. I didn’t ask him because I tend not to open the subject of your relationship with him”

“I asked him and he said he would come but only if I tell Fiona everything first. I already told her and she’s cool about it, she knows, she used to date her boss too” he said

“And how did that go for her?”

“Well everything was great until she cheated on him with his drug addict brother” he said like it wasn’t a big deal.

“Ok, good thing Iggy’s not gay too then. Well this was enough awkwardness for this morning, you can go now” she said and looked at something on her laptop

“What? You asked, I answered. Not my fault it was a shitty story” he said and laughed. He then left the office and went to his own desk. When he wanted to start the computer he saw that surprise, surprise, it wasn’t working again.

“Oh you piece of ultimate crap” Ian growled and sighed. He picked up the desk phone and dialed the tech department line.

“Yeah hi, it’s Ian Gallagher again, I called like a month ago, my computer’s not working again. Yeah, I’ll wait.” He waited a few seconds before someone else picket up “Yeah, it’s not turning on, ok, yes, ok, I’ll wait” he answered every question and hung up. 10 minutes they said. Great.

10 minutes later the elevator doors opened and a guy made his way over to Ian’s desk

“Hi” the guy said and Ian looked up from his papers.

“Oh hi, it’s grumpy tech guy, Vlad, right?” Ian asked cheerfully and expected a punch or something but the guy just laughed

“Yeah, what’s the problem now?” he asked and actually smiled this time.

“Well it won’t turn on so I have no fucking idea, excuse my language, but please can you figure it out cause I’m really behind work” he pleaded and got up from his chair so the guy can sit there like last time.

“Sure, I’ll try. Give me a few minutes, find something else to do in the meantime.” He said and Ian nodded.

So he took advantage of this and went straight to Louise.

“Hello dear, what brings you here?” she asked and smiled at the redhead.

“Oh just wanted to see you and thank you for helping me the other week with that problem. I had some free time so I thought now was the time” he said and flashed a smile

“Oh aren’t you a dear, you’re welcome. But I did what any decent human being would do”

“Don’t be so sure. Anyways, is Mickey in, haven’t talked to him since last night” He really didn’t. Mickey couldn’t come over the other night because he went to visit his uncle who lived outside of town. He sent a text when he woke up but Mickey didn’t text back and even though Ian won’t admit it he’s a little worried.

“Yes, he called me about 15 minutes ago and told me he will be here a little over 8 am. He said he lost his phone or that it was stolen” she said and frowned. Well that explains the not texting back part.

“Oh that sucks, well I’ll talk to him when he gets here. I’ll go now and see if Vlad figured out what’s wrong with my computer.” He said

“Oh nice boy, he always helps me when I have a problem with mine” she said and smiled. She seems to see the best in everyone.

He didn’t go to his desk after all because he decided to go talk to another coworker about some problem she had a few days ago. He stayed there for about 15 minutes and then decided he would finally go back and see what Vlad was doing.

Ian walked back to his desk and saw that the he was still there. He was talking in another language though, maybe his own.

“Uhm is there a problem?” Ian asked him.

“Yeah there’s a problem, I dropped all of the tiny screws that hold the back of the housing unit and now I can’t fucking find them.” He said angrily and dropped on the floor to find them.

“Can I help?” Ian asked

“No, it was my mistake, I’m going to find them” he protested and Ian didn’t do anything because he seemed pretty angry and he wasn’t going to make him even more.

“Unde naiba is?” Ian heard the man say. He giggled because he found it funny to hear someone speak in a language he didn’t understand.

“What’s so funny?” he asked and Ian tried to keep a straight face

“Well, you.” He said and the man frowned

“How am I funny?”

“Don’t know, foreign languages sound funny to me. What did you say, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Where the hell are they?” he said and Ian shrugged

“Don’t know man, on the floor, I guess” he said and now the guy laughed

“No, that’s what I said “where the hell are they” I was referring to the screws”

“Oooohhh now I get it. Well did you find them?”

“Yes, cause that’s why I’m still on the floor looking for them, because I found them” he said sarcastically

“Fine, I get it, you’re grumpy again. Look I may as well help you find them or we’ll be her until midnight” Ian suggested but he had another idea.

“No man, forget it, they’re gone, lost in the other world never to be found again, I’ll just go and find some new ones, I think I may have some at my desk. Be back in 5 minutes” he said ran to the elevator.

5 minutes later he was back with a grin on his face.

“Good news, I did find some.” He said and started to put them in their place. Just as he was doing that Mickey arrived and stopped when he was next to Ian.

“Your computer’s not working again?” he asked as he saw the other man under his desk “That or you have something else to tell me?” he said the last part in a whisper and as a joke to which Ian almost laughed way to loud.

“No, it wouldn’t start again so I had to call the department. He seems to have fixed it, right Vlad?” he called and the other man just gave them a thumbs-up from under the desk. “See, we’re buddies now” Ian grinned.

“Ok then wonder boy, I’m going to my office, come by in 10 minutes, there’s something I need to talk to you, regarding the case file your brother is working on” Ian knew for sure there was no case file they needed to talk about so he must have said that because of the other man near them. But surely he could have said something more, believable maybe?

“Sure thing boss” he answered lamely and Mickey just raised an eyebrow and shook his head. He wasn’t any better at this either.

He watched Mickey leave and grinned like an idiot.

“You smile like that just for anyone or is it just for him?” Vlad asked and that made Ian look back at him. Shit.

“Uhm I wasn’t smiling” he said lamely.

“Dude, I was messing with you. I don’t care that you like the dude, you can like whoever you want, ok? None of my business” he said and grabbed his bag “So chill, ok? See you around even though I hope I won’t have to. But if you ask me, you need a new computer here” he said and turned to leave “Bye” he shouted as he was leaving

“Bye” Ian shouted back. He was still standing there looking a little dumb.

 

* * *

 

“My brother’s case file?” Ian said as he entered Mickey’s office and closed the door “That’s what you came up with?”

“Well it just sort of came out, never mind. So, I lost my phone” he said and Ian nodded

“I know, Louise told me. Where?”

“Don’t have a fucking clue. One minute I had it the other it was gone. Anyways, I’m getting a new one today. I went over to the phone company to make sure I don’t lose the number, a lot of people have that number and I can’t change it right now. They said to go over there by 3 o’clock.”

“Ok then, anything else?” Ian asked

“Yeah, so I was wondering, anything planned for tonight?” he asked and smiled

“Nope, so if you’re free you can come over”

“Sounds like a plan” Mickey smirked “Now go cause your face is distracting me and I need to focus” he said and gestured to the door.

“Oh is that true? And what if I don’t want to go and I just want to keep distracting you with my handsome face” he said and wiggled his eyebrows

“Who said anything about handsome? I was implying that you have an ugly face, very disturbing and distracting ugly face” he teased and Ian pretended to be hurt

“Auch, right in the feels” he said and punctured his heart with his finger. Mickey laughed. “Fine, I’ll go, but only because I’m also behind with work. See you tonight”

 

* * *

 

It was only 4 o’clock and Ian still had 2 more hours of work and he was already hungry as hell. This is what he gets for skipping lunch break. He was typing like a mad man when his cell phone started to ring. It was Fiona.

“Oh hi Fi, what’s up?” he answered cheerfully

“Ian, it’s about mom, she died this morning, dad just called me” she said and Ian’s smile faded

“What happened?” he asked, his voice was very calm.

“Heart attack, apparently, don’t know much, we have to go there and sort things up, do you think they’ll give you a few days off?” she asked and her voice was shaking.

“Yeah, I’m sure they will. I’ll call you when I get home” he said and hung up.

He stood there a few seconds, tried to breathe. He never was close to his parent but still, this was not good news, even for him. He stood up, straightened his posture and made his way to Mandy’s office. He knocked and he heard “Come in” so he did.

“Sorry to disturb but my sister just called and told me our mother died this morning. I would like to ask for a few days off so I can go back to their house so we can sort everything out” he said very calmly. Mandy just dropped her pencil.

“Oh my god Ian, I’m so sorry. Can I help with anything?” he said and stood up and ran to hug the man.

“No, just need to know if I can take the days off” he said again with the same tone.

“Of course, as many as you need, take the whole week.” She said looking at him with sadness in her eyes.

“Ok, thank you. I’m just going to go now, can you tell Mickey please and he can call me when he can” he said and she just nodded.

Ian left without telling anyone anything. He was on his way home, he only got out of the building when his phone started to ring again. Mickey’s office number

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry Ian, Mandy just told me. Are you alright?” Mickey asked

“Fine, I’m fine. She’s the one who’s dead, not me” he said and crossed the street.

“Ok, I don’t think you are, want me to come with you?” he asked

“No, please, I need to be alone right now, ok? Just call me after you get the new phone”

“Are you sure?” he asked

“Very, now please, I need to call Lip and ask him if he’s going to pick me up”

“Ok, please be careful, bye”

“I will, bye Mick” he said and hung up.

He talked to Lip and he said he was going to be there to pick him up in 30 minutes. In that time Ian made sure to pack everything he needed, he talked to his neighbor to feed his cat and gave her the spare keys. 30 minutes later Lip arrived. They went straight to their old house. Fiona and Jimmy were already there.

Ian didn’t know how to grieve so everyone found it weird when he would suddenly burst out laughing for no reason at all. He would tell them that he remembered something funny. They would all look weird at him but no one dared to say a word. 3 days later, at the funeral, Ian made another scene when he picked a fight with someone from the neighborhood. He always hated that man. Mickey stopped him from causing a scene. Ian went back home the night after the funeral. Everyone asked him to stay another night be he refused saying there were too many bad memories. He even told Mickey he needed to be alone that night. At first he said maybe it wasn’t a good idea but eventually Mickey caved and left him alone.

When Ian was finally alone it hit him and he started to cry. He threw a few things around the house and eventually gave in and went to bed. After hours and hours of turning around and not actually sleeping he threw the covers down on the floor and searched for his phone. He called the only person he needed to hear from right now

“Is everything ok?” Mickey’s voice came from the other line

“I need you” Ian’s voice was week and Mickey could tell he was crying.

“I’ll be there as soon as possible” he said and hung up.

Ian threw the phone somewhere on the bed and went to the door to unlock it so Mickey could enter when he arrived. Then he thought that he needed to give Mickey a set of keys, let’s face it, it was time. He also thought about that not only did he need Mickey right now but that he needed him all the time. He really got used with him being a part of his life and he really can’t see it without him anymore. He knew it hasn’t been that long but when you know something, you just know it. And one thing was sure, he loved Mickey.

20 minutes later he heard the front door open. He was in his bed again. He heard the man making his way in the bedroom and he heard him closing the bedroom door. He also heard him throwing his jacket on the floor and getting in bed next to him. He turned to face him

“Hi” he said and smiled at the brunet

“Hi” he said back “Are you ok? You look shitty” He joked a little to cheer up the redhead.

“What do you mean I look shitty? I’m fine.” He said it but he didn’t even believe it himself. He started to cry again and Mickey hugged him

“I know I always said I never actually cared for them but she was my mom” he said and Mickey just kept on holding him

“I know.”

“Thank you for coming” Ian said and looked back at him

“I’ll always come and I’ll always be there for you” he said and used his thumb to dry some of the remaining tears from under Ian’s eyes. “Ian, I love you”

Ian froze, he never expected Mickey to say it first. Mickey never was a man of many words and this caught him by surprise. He looked at the brunet and smiled

“I love you too Mickey”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I didn't give much details regarding the funeral an stuff like that but I wasn't in the mood for that so I just made a short, very short, summary.


	11. Oh, whatever shall I do?

“That was, hands down, the most depressing phone call I ever experienced” Ian said and as threw himself on the couch next to Mickey.

“Was is that bad?” he asked

“Bad is not a word to describe it. I mean it’s horrible enough that mom died but the fact that her funeral was 2 days before Fiona’s birthday only makes it worse. I called her and wished her a happy birthday and I could tell from the start that she had been crying. And she tried so hard to fake it so I wouldn’t know but it was so obvious. Then she started crying and that made me want to cry. And neither of us said anything for 5 minutes. Then I asked if I should go over there and she said she wanted to be alone. Man, I just wish I could sleep until all of this is over. I could use 2 weeks of sleep anyways”

“Do you want to call Lip so he can come over? Or maybe go over by your dad’s to see what he’s doing, how he’s handling this?” Mickey suggested

“No! I’m not going to see Frank” Ian protested immediately and Mickey found it weird so he frowned

“Why do you always tense up so much when I mention your dad? And you call him Frank a lot. Why?” now he was asking the real questions and Ian knew he couldn’t postpone this any longer.

“Look, there are some things that I didn’t mention, from my past. I think it’s time you knew” Ian said and that made Mickey tense up a bit. “It’s not something horrible like “we are secretly a family of murderers” or something like that, but for me it’s a difficult subject and well, I don’t actually tell it to anyone. Aside from my family you will be the only one to know.” he said and Mickey nodded eagerly.

“So I call him Frank because 1. That’s his name” Mickey rolled his eyes at that stupid remark. “And 2. He’s not actually my dad” now he just opened his mouth and forgot how to close it back.

“What?” he asked shocked

“Yeah, I found out when I was 14. It explained a lot. Why I don’t look like any of them, because let’s face it. Fiona and Lip look a lot like dad. I look a little like my mom but the red hair, I always wondered where the red hair came from. Because I don’t know if you noticed but none of them have red hair.” He stopped and went over to the fridge to get 2 sodas. He came back and threw Mickey one and then settled back on the couch.

“So, do you know who he is?” he asked eagerly

“Yes, it turned out it’s his brother. I look just like him. Frank actually knew about this from the start, mom told him when she found out she was pregnant. She came clean and told him all about it. He said that Clayton, his brother, doesn’t need to find out, that he will be the one who will raise me as his own.” He took a large sip from the can. “But naturally that didn’t work out as he wanted it to. As I grew up I started to look a lot like Clayton and I kept reminding him of my mom’s infidelity. So he did what he thought was normal, he shut me down every possible way he could. Nothing I ever did was good enough. Fiona and Lip could do no wrong, they were perfect kids, but not Ian, nooo, Ian was always at fault, Ian never did his chores right. Until I found out the truth I hated myself because I thought I wasn’t a good enough son.” He had to stop because his phone started to ring. He ignored the call from Lily.

“What did you do when you found out?” Mickey asked

“Well at first I stopped talking to them for a week, then I accused Frank of hating me for something I didn’t actually do. He denied it of course, said he didn’t hate me. My whole childhood I believed that I was a worthless piece of shit because of him and it turned out he acted like that because I wasn’t his son. Why the fuck didn’t he ship me off to Clayton the minute he saw that I reminded him of what happened? Maybe I would have been happier there, who knows?” Mickey really had no idea what to say. He never knew what to say in situations like these.

“Did you go looking for him after that?”

“Yes, I went with Lip. I never actually told him he was my dad but I think he knew. I left his house and never went back. It didn’t feel right, you know?” Mickey nodded.

“Anyways, this was just another pathetic story from my pathetic past, you sure you still want me around?” Ian said and laughed but Mickey just grabbed his face in his own hands

“Listen to me, nothing about you is pathetic. He is the pathetic one because he spilled his anger on an innocent child. Did he ever hit you?”

“A couple of times, nothing major” Ian said and looked down.

“Nothing major? Give me a break, there’s never a reason to hit a kid, ok? No excuses.” Ian just shrugged.

“Don’t shrug and pretend it’s not a big deal Ian, he destroyed your childhood” Ian was still looking down. He didn’t want to look Mickey in the eyes because he was scared he would cry.

“The worst part is that after I found out the truth I started to drift apart from mom as well. I hated her for not telling me sooner. Nothing from there on was ok again. And after I left for college I stopped going there. I never called her, she was always the one calling me. And now that she’s dead I feel like a piece of shit for not trying harder. I should have at least tried to forgive her” Great, now he was actually crying.

Mickey stayed there with Ian for an hour before he finally calmed down. They went to bed after that because Ian kept falling asleep on the couch.

 

* * *

 

It’s been 2 weeks since the funeral and things were starting to get back to normal. As normal as they could get. Ian buried himself in work so he wouldn’t think about it. Mickey tried to make him do other normal things like going out from time to time or hanging out with his friend who he has been avoiding lately. But Ian insisted he just needed to work. It was a Friday afternoon when a coworker approached Ian. Nate was his name and Ian hated his guts.

“Hello there Gallagher, heard you’ve been screwing the boss, is that true?” he asked shamelessly. Ian raised an eyebrow

“Well you don’t waste any time when it comes to gossip. And besides, it’s none of your business Gordon so go back to your cubical” he said never even looking at him.

“Did I open a sensible subject? You do know that people are talking, right? Aura saw you two at the funeral 2 weeks ago, she said you two looked way to friendly for just a boss/employee relationship.” Ian had enough of this conversation.

“So what if people are talking? What? You’ll burn me at the stake?” he asked

“No, but people won’t stop talking you know”

“Oh, whatever shall I do?” he said sarcastically and he even made a horrified face.

“It doesn’t seem fair, you know. If you screw the boss you get favors. It shouldn’t be allowed.” Nate protested

“Oh give me a break you fucking idiot. You know very well I don’t get any favors, never once have I been favored so don’t come here bitching like a little slut because you feel offended or some shit like that. Linda’s dating her boss from human resources and no one bats an eye. But now that it’s me you're talking about suddenly it’s a problem. You know, I would bet my entire fortune, well, imaginary fortune that no one actually gives a rat’s ass about me and Mickey. People kind of already knew about this since that fight I had some weeks ago. And have I ever been favored since? No, and you wanna know why? Because I don’t have this job for screwing the boss, I have it because I’m good at it. So take you skinny lame ass back to your cubical and stop wasting my time” he didn’t realize that everyone on that floor was listening to him because he was talking way too loudly. Nate was lost for words and someone from the back shouted a “Wohoo” after he finished. Mandy cleared her throat and everyone went back to their original positions.

“Mister Gallagher, Mister Gordon, in my office, now” she shouted and they both did as told.

“What have I told you Ian about making a scene?” she asked him and he just looked down at his hands “And you Nate, what the hell? Have I ever acted differently with Gallagher than to anyone else here?” she asked

“No” he answered ashamed

“Then why the wild accusations?” he didn’t know what to say so he just shrugged.

“Both of you have to work a Saturday for this. You started it” she said and pointed to Nate “And you continued it” she now pointed to Ian. “And don’t think that it’s going to be the same Saturday, no, I don’t need you two destroying the office while you’re here. Ian, you’ll come in this Saturday and Nate the next. Did I make myself clear?” she said and they both nodded. “Now out of my office” she said and they did just that.

“Thanks for that man, didn’t know I needed this until now. You’re the best” Ian said sarcastically to Nate after they were out of her office.

“Fuck you man, I’m in the same mess here”

“Yeah but you started it you idiot. If you would have stayed at your own desk we wouldn’t be here now”

“Whatever man, I’m going back to work” Nate said and left.

This was just fucking perfect.

 

* * *

 

“I heard what happened in the office today. Why did you snap at him? He’s an idiot, you should know better” Mickey said a few minutes after he arrived at Ian’s apartment.

“Don’t know, I guess all the stress finally got to me and I snapped” he said and shrugged

“You know he only said that to get to you, right?” Mickey asked and giggled

“Why?”

“Because he’s jealous”

“Why would he be?” Ian asked confused

“Dear Jesus, you’re oblivious. I think maybe he likes your or something, either way it’s clear he’s jealous for some reason”

“He’s gay?” Ian was really confused right now

“Isn’t it obvious? And besides, he used to date this guy, what was his name, yes, Desmond. I remember because I always said it’s such a fancy and pretentious name.” Mickey said and laughed

“Desmond, that name is familiar. I meant, it’s not like it’s such a common name, you don’t hear it every day.” Ian thought about it for a few seconds before he gave up.

“Maybe you’re thinking about the guy from Lost” Mickey suggested

“Nah, it’s not that. Anyways, I’ll remember it when I won’t think about it. Now, what do you say if I suggested we should go out for a while?”

“What? Ian Gallagher finally wants to leave this shelter he so carefully built over the past few weeks?” Mickey mocked him and Ian just laughed

“Alright, alright, you may be right. All this work and staying inside messed with my head and it made me snap at that poor bastard. So, what do you say?” he asked again

“Sounds great, where do you want to go?”

They went out but didn’t stay very long because Ian had to work tomorrow. He had a stupid skinny boy to thank for that. God, this was going to be a long weekend.


	12. We don’t need a murder investigation on our hands.

 

 

**3 months later**

“What are you so concentrated on?” Mickey asked his boyfriend

“I’m writing a book” he said casually

“You’re writing a book? You’re…since when do you write books?” he asked the redhead.

“Well, I started 2 months ago” he kept looking at the screen

“2 months ago? And I find out now? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“You never asked. And besides, it’s a work in progress, it’s still just an idea, don’t know if I’m ever going to finish it so why start telling people?”

“I never asked because I never knew dumbass. What’s it about anyway?”

“It’s based on my life but with different names and stuff. I also changed a few things, well a lot of things actually. Anyways, I’m not really sure yet if it’s going to be a thing.”

“You know, if you ever do decide to make it a thing, I know a publisher, he’s an old friend. He can help you with it.” Mickey said and took a seat next to Ian who was sitting on the couch and had his feet on the table in front of it. Mickey also tried to take a look at the laptop screen but Ian quickly closed it.

“No, no one is reading this now. It still sucks. Who is this friend of yours?” he asked intrigued. Of course Mickey knew someone, he always knows someone.

“His name is Roger Fowler, surely you heard of him” Ian’s jaw dropped

“Roger Fowler as in Fowler Publishing? Are you kidding me right now?”

“Nope, went to college with his brother and he introduced us a few years ago, he’s actually a nice person, don’t believe what you read in the papers.” Mickey said and stood up, went to Ian’s bookshelf and started looking for something. “There it is, I knew I saw it here” he said and took out a book and threw it into Ian’s lap.

“Fowler’s autobiography, yeah, Lip got me this one, didn’t actually read it though” he said and laughed. “Maybe I will now.” he looked at the back cover “Damn he’s kind of old”

“He’s not old, he’s 45 dumbass.” Mickey said

"So how come you never mentioned Fowler before?”

“You never asked” Mickey said and winked. Ian laughed because he used the same excuse he did a few minutes ago.

“Right, anyways, told you, I’m not sure yet, besides, it doesn’t matter if you know him, if the book sucks no one if going to publish it, friends or no friends. I don’t think he can take risks and publish a bad book just because it’s his friend’s boyfriend who wrote it.”

“That may be true, but if you ever do decided you want to, he can take a look at it and he’ll tell you if it’s good or not” Mickey said and took a seat back next to Ian and kissed him on his forehead.

“Thanks” Ian said and smiled “I’ll think about it”

“Ian, there’s something I really think we should talk about” Mickey said turning serious all of the sudden.

“You got tired of me, didn’t you?” Ian asked worried. He put the book he was still holding on the table and straightened his back.

“What? No stupid, I didn’t get tired of you, I do get tired of you asking stupid questions though” he said and Ian punched him in the left shoulder and laughed.

“What then?”

“Well I was thinking, we’ve been dating for what, almost 5 months now, everyone knows about us so there’s no more hiding around and well I basically invaded your apartment and I barely even sleep at my place. I mostly only go there when I need to bring more stuff here.” Ian can be very clueless sometimes so of course he had no idea where Mickey was going with this. He sighed and continued when he saw that Ian was waiting for him to continue “What I’m trying here to say is that I think we should move in together, I mean really move in. I even found a place” Ian looked at him, he only blinked a few times, his mouth slightly open.

“What? Where? What about this apartment and yours?”

“Well the thing is, my apartment is too far away from work and I don’t think you’ll want to move there because I know how used you are to being so close to the office and I would lie if I said I didn’t like it too. So I found a place, it’s actually quite close from here. Yes, it’s going to be a 15 minute walk to the office not 10 but c’mon, 15 minutes is nothing compared to a half an hour drive from mine, don’t even wanna think about how much it is if you have to walk from there.”

“Are you sure though? That you want to live with me, like really live with me. Because right now even though we practically live together you still have the option to go home whenever you want to” Ian said and grabbed Mickey hand in his. Mickey smiled.

“Of course I’m sure, besides, I’m not selling that place, my cousin in moving here from New York and I decided to let him stay there, he doesn’t need to find a place right now”

“That’s really nice of you Mick” Ian said and smiled

“That’s what family’s for, no? Anyways, want to go see the place?” he grinned

“Now?” Ian asked

“Yes now, tomorrow is Monday and I have that meeting at 5 so I won’t be home before 7 and I don’t think I’ll be in the mood for a house visit. We go see it now and we can move in by next weekend.”

“Sounds like a great plan.” Ian smiled “Wait, you bought the apartment or did you rent it?”

“Bought it” Mickey said

“What? You actually bought it? Mick, I don’t think I have enough money to pay for half of it.” Ian said but Mickey just laughed

“You think I’m going to ask you for half the money? Are you crazy? I bought it and that’s that. We’ll split the bills and other stuff but that’s about it. I’m not going to make you pay for half of it, it wasn’t your idea in the first place. We’re going to be doing what we did here for the past 3 months, pay half of everything.”

“You sure? How many rooms does it have?”

“3 rooms, well, 2 bedrooms and a living room, a kitchen and 2 bathrooms.” He said

“Must have been expensive.” Ian said and Mickey shrugged

“Nothing I can’t handle. Now, come one, are we going to sit here and talk about money or are you going to move your ass and go change so we can leave already?”

“Fine, be back in 10 minutes. Feed the cat please? I forgot earlier and it’s already 5” Ian said and Mickey nodded and got up from the couch.

“C’mon Cleo, let’s get you fat” Mickey said as he opened the cupboard where Ian kept her food. She meowed like crazy when she saw him “Yeah, you like the idea of getting fat, don’t you?” he asked and she kept meowing. He poured a lot of food and watched as she devoured it. 10 minutes later Ian stepped out of his bedroom.

“Man, how is your cat not crazy fat? She eats more than a dog” Mickey asked and Ian laughed

“No idea, I’ve been asking myself that for a long time, if someone looks at her they think she barely eats anything. Anyways, ready?”

“Yep, let’s go”

 

* * *

 

 

“So, what do you think? Like it?” Mickey asked

“If I like it? How can I not like it?” Ian asked still looking around the apartment. “It’s huge”

“Yeah, the rooms are pretty big, the kitchen also” he smiled at the redhead “Glad you like it”

“I really hope you won’t regret doing this and decide to dump my ass later because I’m taking a big risk here. I can’t keep my apartment because I’m renting it so it’s not mine to keep. I don’t want to be homeless” he said and laughed

“I’m pretty sure man, I don’t do crazy shit like this one if I’m not 100% sure. It may be too soon for other people but for me it’s not. For me, you’re it man” Ian stopped looking around and looked at Mickey. He felt his heart stop a little. Mickey never said things like that. He was a closed book most of the time so when he did say something like that Ian took his time to take it all in, make sure he heard it right.

“I love you much, you know that right?” Ian asked and got closer so he can glue his forehead to Mickey’s.

“I know. I love you too” Mickey said and kissed him. There was a knock on the door. They stopped kissing and Ian growled and went to open it.

“Hello, I thought I heard someone open this door earlier, hi, I’m your new neighbor, I live right across, didn’t know someone bought this one already” the guy said and grinned. Ian looked at him and thought he looked a little familiar.

“Yeah, name’s Ian Gallagher, this is my boyfriend, Mickey Milkovich” he said and gestured to the man next to him. The guy looked a little at Ian after he said his name and squinted, like he tried to remember something.

“Hi, my name’s Desmond Gold, nice too meat you two.” Ian almost snorted a little. Desmond and Gold, what a pretentious name. Wait a second, Desmond, he heard that name before, at the office and somewhere else too.

“Wait, I know you” Mickey said all of the sudden. “You dated a guy, Nathaniel Gordon, didn’t you?” he asked and the man smiled

“Yeah, Nate, that was a mistake” he said and laughed.

“I think I know you too” Ian said and the guy looked at him again.

“You said Gallagher, right? Yeah, I think you might be right, you know a guy name Tom Redstone, right?” Ian’s stomach made that thing again, that thing when he though he was going to vomit right that second.

“Yeah, unfortunately” Ian said and Desmond smiled

“You were the boyfriend, right?” Desmond asked and Ian nodded. Mickey looked at his boyfriend and saw the sudden change on his face. “Let me tell you something, I remember a few months ago, it was after I broke up with Nate, I had to go to visit him at work to give him back something and I saw you there, I told him I thought I knew you from somewhere, that you kind of looked like Tom’s ex-boyfriend. He also knows Tom because I introduced them. I never actually got to talk to you a lot when you were with Tom, I’m always so busy and stuff. That’s why I didn’t know for sure if you were the same guy.” He finished and then Ian got it.

“That’s how he knew where I work. That fucker told him” Ian said

“Did something happen?” Desmond asked

“Yeah something happened, the fucker came looking for Ian and made a scene at the office. I ended up punching him” Mickey said

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry, if I knew that was going to happen I would have never told Nate” Desmond said and ran a hand through his hair.

“Nah man, wasn’t your fault. That fucker never liked me so I guess that’s why he told Tom in the first place. Never mind, it’s been months.” Ian assured the blond man.

“Yeah, either way, I’m really sorry. I don’t talk to either of them anymore. They both are a bunch of assholes. Look, I have to go right now but I would be glad if you two would like to come by my place one day” he suggested and Mickey looked at Ian. Ian made a “yeah, why not?” face so Mickey turned back to Desmond.

“Sure, why not? We move in next weekend so maybe after that?” Mickey said and Desmond nodded

“Sounds great, see you guys around” he said and went back into his apartment.

“Well that was not at all weird. At least now I know who I have to kill for that Tom thing” Ian said

“Calm down red warrior, we don’t need a murder investigation on our hands” Mickey said and Ian rolled his eyes. They both went back into the apartment and shut the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, this chapter was more about the two of them. obviously the publishing company is made up :)) Sorry I didn't post anything yesterday but I really had no inspiration, like at all. I'll try to write another one later, but no promises :D
> 
> Oh and I decided to jump 3 months because I felt like the story is moving to slow :D


	13. Whatever you say Mr. Fancy Pants.

“How did the moving in go?” Lily asked Ian while they were having their lunch break.

“Oh it was a total chaos. Things got lost, other things were smashed into pieces because I’m such a clutz, almost lost the cat. I swear, it was like 2 mad people were moving in that apartment.”

“I bet it was fun. When can I come and inspect the new place?” She asked with a grin.

“Oh maybe next weekend if we manage to get everything out of the boxes by then. I have to say, he has a lot of stuff.”

“You still have stuff in boxes? What the hell did you do all weekend?” she asked but Ian only looked at her and smiled like a bastard. “Ewww, ewww forget I asked. You two are like rabbits. Well, gay rabbits but still”

“You asked” he said and laughed “Anyways, we also went over to that Desmond guy I told you about, he insisted. He told us a lot of dirt about Nate, I’ll tell you some other time, when we actually have time and certain people aren’t around” he said and gestured towards their left where Nate was. He was just staring at his coffee.

“He looks so lost” Lily said “I almost feel sorry for him”

“He always finds himself lost in thoughts because it's an unfamiliar territory” Ian added and Lily let out a loud snort.

“Anyway, I’m off now, my boss needs me to go God knows where again. See you later?” she asked and Ian nodded.

“Tell Mendez I said hello” Ian said as she was leaving.

“Yeah, I’m not going to do that” she shouted and left the room.

Ian was still sitting at the table when Nate approached him and took a seat.

“What do you want Gordon?” Ian asked annoyed

“Nothing, word’s been going around that you and the boss man are officially just like a boring married couple” he said and grinned.

“We’re not married Nate. Don’t know who your sources are but they’re no good” he said and took a sip from his coffee.

“Didn’t say you were, I said you are just like, not that you actually are.”

“You do realize than whenever we talk it’s always you asking me about my relationship with Mickey. Why is that?” Ian knew this will make him feel uncomfortable so maybe he would leave so he can drink his coffee in peace.

“That’s not true” he defended himself but all Ian did was mock him by making silly faces when he talked “Stop that! You’re acting like a man. I mean child, you’re acting like a child” it did work, he was already lost.

“Are you always this stupid or are you making a special effort today?” Ian asked

“Fuck you man, I’m not stupid. You’re stupid; your face is stupid, with the freckles and the red hair.” He said and gestured to Ian’s hair.

“Oh you got me there. Right in the heart! What will become of me now? I’ll be forever sad knowing that you don’t like my freckles and hair.” He said dramatically and covered his eyes with one hand and pretended to cry.

“You are such a child” was all Nate said and got up. He stormed out of the room and left Ian laughing by himself.

 

* * *

 

“So I ran into this old friend of mine from college this morning” Ian said as he and Mickey were leaving the building. “And I kind of told her we’ll meet her for a drink after work”

“And of course you waited until the last minute to tell me because you knew I would say no and now I can’t say no because it’s too late to cancel” Mickey responded and Ian just smirked in triumph

“Oh c’mon, she’s nice, sort of”

“Sort of?” Mickey raised an eyebrow

“Well she is a bit out there, talks a lot, she’s a bit loud and her laugh can wake the dead but overall she’s nice.”

“Yeah, I bet” Mickey said sarcastically “when and where?” he asked with a sigh knowing he couldn’t weasel himself out of this one. He knew Ian too well.

“Now, and at the Hilton on Michigan Avenue”

“Why there? You don’t like going to places like that.” he asked and opened the car door. Ian did the same.

“She’s staying there and asked me if we can meet there because she doesn’t feel like going anywhere else. She’s a bit of a snob.”

“Hmmm go figure” Mickey answered and started the car “In that case, call her and tell her she has to wait a while, at this hour and with this traffic there’s no way in hell we’re getting there soon.”

“Texting her now” he said and started to type. A minute later she replied. “She said she’ll wait in her room and I can call when we’re close.”

“Good to know she’s ok with it.” Ian rolled his eyes at Mickey’s constant sarcastic tone.

An eternity later they finally arrived and he called her. They decided to wait in the lobby.

“God I hate men in suits. All pretentious and shit” Ian said and snorted

“Ian, I’m wearing a suit and most importantly, YOU are wearing suit” Mickey said and pulled the corner of Ian’s tie.

“Oh you know what I mean” Ian said and adjusted his tie. Mickey just giggled.

“Whatever you say Mr. Fancy Pants” he wanted to say something more but he was soon interrupted by a squeal.

“Oh god here we go” Ian whispered quickly to Mickey and immediately flashed a very fake smile. “Ari, there you are” he said and the girl jumped to hug him.

“Oh God Ian, it’s been too long” she said and kissed his cheek.

“We saw each other this morning.” he said with a straight face.

“I know silly. But we didn’t get to talk” she laughed and Mickey could swear he heard the exact same noise on Animal Planet. A hyena maybe? Something like that. “Oh and you must be Michael, right?” she said and turned to Mickey and took him by surprise when she hugged him. He froze for a bit and Ian covered his mouth and laughed. He knew how much Mickey hated hugs.

“Yes, but people call me Mickey” he said after he wasn’t being hugged anymore, thank God.

“As in mouse?” she asked and tilted her head a little.

“No, as in Mickey” he answered and tried really hard not to sound rude.

“Oh ok, well my name’s Ariana” she said and extended her arm. Mickey took it and smirked.

“As in Grande?” he asked just to continue what she started. Ian almost burst with laughter but kept it together. It would have been rude. Ariana just laughed.

“You got a funny one Ian, I like him.” she said and turned to Ian who just grinned. He looked at Mickey who gave him a death glare when he noticed she wasn’t looking.

This was going to be fun.

“So Ari, where do you live now?” Ian asked after they got seated at a table.

“I moved back to New York, I work at daddy’s company now” she said proudly. Of fucking course she works at daddy’s company, Mickey thought.

“That’s great, how’s Ethan?”

“Oh yeah, I didn’t tell you” she said with a huge smile and flashed her left hand in Ian’s face.

“Oh you guys got engaged? That’s so great, congratulations” he said and smiled.

“Yeah, it was time. I mean after 7 years. A girl has a limit you know.” she said and laughed again. Mickey wanted to crawl into the depths of hell if it meant not hearing that laugh ever again.

“Wait, you’re Ian’s age, no?” Mickey asked all of the sudden

“Yes, I’m 24” she responded and smiled

“So, you’ve been together since you were 17?” he asked

“Yep, we were in high school together. He was the captain of the football team” she said and Mickey murmured “shocker” under his breath but she didn’t hear him, Ian did though and he smiled. “And I was just a shy cheerleader who fell in love” she said dreamily and Mickey fought the very, very strong urge to laugh until he dropped dead.

“That’s a wonderful story” he said sarcastically but she didn’t catch that.

“Thank you, I think so too. Oh Ian, you’re so lucky you found someone so romantic” Ok was she for real? This was killing Mickey, he wanted to laugh so bad. And Ian knew that because he was in the same situation.

“Oh don’t I know it” he said and forced a smile just so he wouldn’t laugh.

“Oh my god, let me tell you something” she started. She was talking about someone they knew from college and Ian looked and Mickey and gave him a “I’m so sorry” look before turning his attention back to Ariana.

 

* * *

 

“That was the worst experience of my life. Never ever make me socialize with creatures like that one” Mickey said as they got into the car.

“I forgot how annoying she is. I mean, I don’t even remember her being THIS annoying. She really doesn’t stop talking.” Ian said and Mickey started the car.

“I think her fiancé deserves a medal for putting up with that” Mickey said and pulled out of the parking lot.

“No, he’s even worse” Ian said

“How is that possible?” Mickey asked and turned to the left.

“He’s a combination between her and Nate”

“Well maybe they’re a match made in annoying heaven” Mickey said and Ian nodded.

“Only explanation. Anyways, sorry I dragged you with me but she really wanted to meet you”

“Don’t worry, I have my fair share of annoying friends you’ll eventually have to talk too”

“Can’t wait” Ian said sarcastically.

*****

“Oh my god, your cat is insane!” Mickey shouted from the bedroom.

“What’d she do this time?” Ian asked and sighed.

“Well come and see”

As Ian joined Mickey he looked at the masterpiece she created.  One of them forgot the closet door open when they left this morning and Cleo took that as an invitation to a party. Every single piece of clothing that wasn’t on hangers was on the floor.

“I spent 2 and a half hours sorting all those clothes. You do them this time” Mickey said and threw his hands in the air. Ian let out a sigh.

“Fine. After dinner” he said and jumped on the bed. “I hate you” he said looking at the cat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter was a bit boring and short but I was really busy these days and didn't have so much time or insipartion for that matter.


	14. This silence is killing me

“I need to tell you something” Mickey began when he got home. Ian was sitting on the couch watching tv.

“Well hello to you too Mick.” He said and got up “Is it a funny story?” he asked and kissed his boyfriend.

“No”

“Oh a kinky story?” Ian asked and wiggled his eyebrows

“No Ian. I’m serious” Mickey said bluntly

“Ok, sorry. What the hell happened that’s got you so uptight?”

“I ran into someone I’ve been avoiding for a very long time” he said and went into the kitchen then after a few seconds came back out with 2 glasses. Ian took a seat back on the couch and watched him. Mickey then proceeded to grab a bottle of whiskey and opened it. He poured in both glasses and then offered one to Ian.

“Who was it?” Ian asked curiously but he had a feeling he already knew who he was talking about.

“Robert Green” Mickey said and emptied his glass. He poured another one.

“I don’t know who that is” even though Mandy told Ian something about a guy who broke Mickey’s heart she never actually mentioned a name so he wasn’t sure this is who Mickey was talking about.

“Someone I used to date, well that’s what I thought anyway” he said and laughed.

“Oh” was all Ian said “Want to talk about it?” he asked eventually

“There’s not much to talk about really. We met, I liked him, we hooked up, we started to date, I started to like him more, turned out he was with me just for the money. Same old story, nothing new, it wasn’t that serious of a relationship anyway.” He said and shrugged

“Well when Mandy told me there was someone who broke your heart I just thought it was something really serious.” Ian said and regretted it immediately. Maybe he should have left Mandy out of this.

“Well Mandy should have kept her little mouth shut. And he didn’t break my fucking heart because I wasn’t in love with him. I just thought he was different, that’s all.”

“Then why never mention him until now?” Ian asked

“Because it’s not the fact that he hurt me, let’s face it, shit like that happens to everyone. It’s the fact that I was stupid enough to fall for it. I never thought someone could actually fool me like that, ok? I was weak and I’m ashamed of it”

“You shouldn’t be, though. Liking someone isn’t something you should be ashamed of. Look at me, I lived for years in an emotionally abusive relationship and didn’t do anything about it until he actually assaulted me so yeah, no one’s perfect.”

“I guess, but that still doesn’t make me any less of an idiot for believing his ass.” He said and took another sip from the whiskey.

“Don’t call yourself an idiot man. He’s the fucking idiot for not seeing what he had.”

“You’re just saying that cause you love me, it doesn’t count” Mickey said with a small smile.

“You bet your sweet ass I love you. But that’s not why I said it. I said it because it’s the truth. Now, let’s just change the subject, I don’t want you to ruin your evening over that idiot.”

 

* * *

 

 

Mickey opened his eyes the next morning and saw that Ian was still sleeping. He grabbed his phone from under his pillow, god knows why he keeps it there, and saw that it was still 6 a.m. He still had another half an hour before he had to wake up. He turned around to look for something on his nightstand.

“Oh sweet mother of God” he yelled and flinched when he saw the cat standing on the nightstand looking at him and slowly wiggling her tail. “What the fuck are you staring at?” he asked but she just kept looking. “Ian, your cat’s a fucking weirdo” he said and grabbed his shoulder.

“What?” Ian asked and rubbed his eyes.

“Your cat. She’s staring at me from the nightstand” he said and pointed.

“Oh hey Cleo”

“Hey Cleo? Really? It’s creepy”

“No it’s not. What, you think she’s plotting your murder?” Ian asked and laughed

“I wouldn’t put it past her” he said and looked back at the feline. She took that as an invitation and she jumped right on his shoulder “Oh, so we’re doing this now? Ok.” He said and shrugged. Ian just laughed.

“I can’t believe you still aren’t used to her. She’s not even that bad. I had this cat when I was little, I swear, spawn of Satan. She’s an angel compared to that one.”

“Good to know we’ve been blessed with an angel” Mickey said sarcastically and Ian just laughed and got up.

“I’m going to take a shower. Try not to kill each other, ok?”

“No promises” Mickey said and watched Ian walk in the bathroom. “What now? You going to keep standing on me?” he asked the cat and she just started to purr and made herself comfortable on Mickey’s lap. “Ok, fine, but the second you start sinking your claws in me you’re dead” he said. Truth be told, he kind of liked the cat.

“Well I see you two made up.” Ian said when he got out of the bathroom 15 minutes later. “Don’t want to ruin that” he said and pointed at Mickey and the cat “but you do have to get your ass out of bed and start getting ready.”

“I know, it’s just, it’s so comfortable to stay in bed. I don’t wanna get up” he whined

“And you’re calling me a child. C’mon, get up! I’ll go make breakfast in the meantime.”

“Fine” Mickey finally said and moved the cat on another side of the bed and got up.

20 minutes later they were sitting at the kitchen island and eating, well more like they pretending to eat.

“I’m not so hungry” Ian finally said

“I’m not either” Mickey said and looked at him “Why the hell do we keep on making breakfast when we know neither of us eats this early?”

“Fuck if I know. C’mon, let’s just go to work and we’ll eat later, ok?” he said and got up from his chair.

“It’s too early man” Mickey said and looked at his watch “It’s barely 7:15” he said again and Ian raised an eyebrow.

“What the hell. When did we get up?” he asked

“Well it was 6:05 when I woke you.” Mickey said

“Oh I thought it was 6:30. Well let’s just go, I need to go by something before I start work anyway. This way I won’t lose time.”

“Fine, don’t forget, I have a meeting this afternoon so I won’t be around much. After that I have to meet with Glen and his wife so I’ll probably be late tonight.” Mickey said and he searched for his car keys. He found them a few seconds later.

“Ok, I’ll just invite Lily over then”

 

* * *

 

 

“Hi, is Mandy Milkovich in?” a man asked Ian. He looked up from the computer screen.

“Yes, it’s just she’s in with someone now. You can wait for her there” he said and gestured to the couch across from his desk. The man nodded and smiled.

“Yes, that’s right. We’ll just have to reschedule for next Monday then” Mandy said with a smile as she opened her office door 10 minutes later. The woman she was with smiled and agreed then exited the office. Mandy looked at Ian.

“Anything else?” she asked

“Yes, there’s someone waiting” he said and gestured towards where the man was. Mandy turned her head over there and her smile faded.

“Robert, the hell are you doing here?” she asked. Ian frowned. Is this the same Robert Mickey was talking about?

“I just wanted to talk to you. I saw Mickey yesterday and it didn’t go too well” he said. After Robert said that Mandy quickly looked over at Ian and saw the confused expression on his face.

“Well I don’t think we have anything to talk about. It’s none of my business and if Mickey doesn’t want to talk to you, guess what? I’m not going to either.”

“Fine, just let him know I was here and that I want to talk to him” he said and turned around. He went to wait for the elevator.

Mandy went back inside her office without saying a word to Ian. He quickly got up from his chair when he heard the elevator arriving.

“Wait for me” he shouted after Robert so the other man did as told. “Thanks” Ian said as he got inside the elevator.

“No problem? Where to?” he asked as he was holding his finger next to the button panel.

“Ground floor” Ian said and the man pressed the button. “So, you know Mickey?” he asked

“Yeah, used to, some time ago. Haven’t talked with him in a while and I just saw him the other day and I kind of wanted to get back in touch” he said and Ian just nodded. He almost let out a laugh when he heard him but decided not to.

A few seconds later the elevator stopped and they both exited. Ian had no idea what he was doing and why he was following the man. He just did. When they were outside Ian spoke.

“You know, I don’t think Mickey would appreciate your visit, maybe you should stay away from him” he said casually with his hands in his pockets. The guy turned around and raised an eyebrow.

“And I think you should mind your own business boy. Who the hell do you think you are calling your boss by his first name and meddling in his personal life?” he asked and got closer to Ian. Because he was now close, Ian got a better look at the man. He wasn’t so handsome but he wasn’t ugly either. Not very tall, well, not as tall as Ian anyway.

“I happen to be his boyfriend” Ian said harshly and smirked. The man looked amazed for a second then he laughed.

“Oh so you aim high I see. What? You got a look at his bank account first and decided to give it a try?”

“No, no. That sounds more like you. I’m with him because I love him.”

“What? He told you that I was with him for his money?” he asked and raised his eyebrows. Then he laughed. “Can you blame me? He’s kind of a douche. If he didn’t have money nobody would like him” that’s all Ian needed to hear. He smiled at the man in front of him and without a warning he punched him right in the face. The man was caught off guard and fell on the pavement. His nose started bleeding.

“What the fuck man? You broke my nose!” he shouted. People were stopping and watching the scene.

“Be glad I didn’t rip your dick off. Now get the fuck away from here and don’t fucking look for him again you piece of useless crap” he said and turned around. He walked back into the building. People were still looking at the other man who was still on the ground and holding his nose.

“The fuck are you all staring at?” he yelled and everyone started walking away.

Ian waited for the elevator and kept clenching and unclenching his fist. Damn, it hurt a lot. Stupid Robert and his stupid face.

“What the hell happened to you? You look like crap. And why are your knuckles covered in blood?” Lily asked appearing out of nowhere all of the sudden.

“Fuck, you scared me” Ian said as he jumped a little. He looked at her and smiled “Nothing happened, just punched an idiot” he said as the elevator doors opened “Well are you coming or are you going to just stand there?” he asked after a few seconds.

“Yeah, yeah, coming” she said and quickly got inside.

 

* * *

 

 

“What the hell did you do Ian?” Mickey shouted the second he entered the apartment.

“Hello to you to Mick. I made dinner, that’s what I did” he acted like nothing even happened.

“You punched him. Why?”

“Well because he was being a major dick, that’s why. He insulted you and I don’t take shit like that.” He said throwing his arms in the air. “Besides, you punched a dude for me too. How is this any different?”

Mickey didn’t say anything. He just took a seat on the couch and looked at nothing in particular. He stood like that for like 5 or 10 minutes, Ian didn’t know how long, it just seemed way to long.

“Oh c’mon Mick, say something already, this silence is killing me man” he said frustrated.

“Thank you” was all Mickey said

“Oh why are you being so … wait, what? Did you just say thank you?” he asked confused

“Yeah, thank you” he said again and laughed. Ian just looked at him and started to laugh too. They laughed for a good 3 minutes before Mickey spoke.

“Man, I just wish I could have seen his face” he said

“Believe me, it was hilarious. He was so surprised; he didn’t even get to fully understand what happened. How did you find out anyway?” he asked

“He called me, the lame fucker. I don’t know how he got my number but he called me and started to complain like a child. I just hung up, didn’t even say a word.”

“Look, I know that wasn’t so mature but the shithead had it coming. Can we just forget about it?” Ian asked and Mickey just nodded and kissed him.

“You said something about dinner?” Mickey asked and grinned.


	15. And what are you supposed to be doing on June 13th?

“I heard you punched a certain person yesterday” Mandy said and she dropped her hands on Ian’s desk making him jump a little.

“Wow you scared me” he said quickly “Yeah, I might have” he smirked.

“Good job, I never liked the bloke” she said and smiled with a hint of pride.

“Bloke?” Ian said and raised an eyebrow “Have you been watching British tv shows again?” he asked her and giggled.

“Yeah, but shut up, you’re the one that got me hooked on them in the first place. Anyways, here are the papers I’ve been talking about. Make sure Mendez signs ALL of them this time, ok?” she handed Ian a folder and he nodded.

The second Mandy entered her office Ian got up from his chair and went straight to where Mendez’s office is.

“Hey Lily, is Mendez in?” he asked his best friend.

“Sure, go in, he’s been expecting you apparently” she said.

“That almost sounded creepy” Ian said

“What did?”

“The ‘he’s been expecting you’ thing.” He said and Lily laughed

“Ok James Bond, just go already.” She said and gestured to the door.

Ian knocked and when he heard a “come in” he opened the door.

“I’m here with the papers you wanted to sign.” He said and opened the folder and the papers scattered all around the floor. “Fuck, sorry ‘bout that. I’ll just gather them in a sec” he said and started to pick up the mess as fast as possible. He can hear Mendez sigh and imagined him rolling his eyes as he always does when someone does something he doesn’t like. The guy’s a bit of a pretentious douche if you ask Ian. Actually no, you could ask anyone and they would all say the same.

“Here, that’s about it.” he said when he finally got all the papers back into the folder

“Come on” Mendez said and made a gesture with his hands so than Ian would hurry and give him the folder “I don’t have all day, red.” He said and grabbed the folder from Ian’s hands. It’s not a shock for Ian that the guy doesn’t even know his name. He bets that the fucker doesn’t even know his own mother’s name, that’s how self-centered he is. He watched the man sigh the papers and he watched him get frustrated when his pen stopped working. Mendez quickly grabbed another pen and signed the rest of them before he handed them over to Ian.

“I’ll need the folder too” Ian said and pointed to the folder on Mendez’s desk. The man sighed again and grabbed the folder and handed it over.

“Is that all?” he asked not even trying to hide the annoyance in his tone.

“Yes sir, that’s about it. Thank you” Ian said and turned around. He didn’t bother to say goodbye or something, not like the jerk deserves one. He closed the door behind him and looked at Lily.

“I swear, that man is so frustrated with anything that breathes, how do you cope with him?” he asked in a bit of a whisper just to be sure no one is listening.

“Well I drink a lot” she joked and Ian laughed “Also there are several pills I’m currently taking so that might be a another factor.” She continued.

“If I didn’t know you, I would believe you. Got a lot of work today?” he asked changing the subject

“Some, not as much as yesterday though. You?”

“Same. Well I should be going, we still on for this weekend?” he asked and tapped on her desk 2 times. He wasn’t sure why he did that.

“Yeah sure. We’ll talk more on Friday, ok?” she said and Ian nodded. He waved at her and started to walk back to his desk.

 

* * *

 

 

“Ready to go?” Mickey asked after stopping next to Ian’s desk. The redhead was looking through his desk drawer for something.

“Just a sec” he said while still looking. “Found it” he said after 4 seconds and pulled out a piece of paper. “Now, I’m ready” he said with a smile as he grabbed his bag.

“He called me again” Mickey said as they were waiting for the elevator. Ian looked at him with a puzzled look.

“Who? Robert?”

“Yeah, I didn’t answer it though. Blocked his number just in case” he said and stuffed his right hand in his pants pocket.

“Ok. You know, you don’t have to tell me every time he tries to call you or something. I trust you to do the right thing, I don’t worry” Ian said because he had a feeling that’s why Mickey told him in the first place.

“I know that. Just felt like telling you” he said and smiled. Ian nodded. They both stepped inside the elevator and Ian pushed the ground floor button.

*****

“Oh my god, are you kidding me right now?” Mickey yelled once he turned on the light inside the bedroom. “What the actual fuck?”

“What happened?” Ian said after he ran there to see what happened

“The cat happened” he said turning around to face the taller man “She’s like out to get me or something” he said and turned back around. Ian took a better look around and saw that the ground was covered in dirt. What the hell?

“Where the fuck did she found the dirt?” he asked confused

“From that abnormally big plant you placed in the corner. I told you then we don’t fucking need a tree in the god damn bedroom” Ian then looked in the corner and saw that Mickey was right.

“But how the hell did she bring it in the middle of the room?” Ian asked

“Don’t know, maybe she has a tiny excavator” Mickey said and Ian raised an eyebrow

“Haha, very funny. You should be a comedian.” he said with sarcasm

“Well then she must have super powers or something. She’s a nightmare” Mickey said.

“Oh c’mon, she’s a tiny innocent cat. She doesn’t know it’s wrong. It’s not that bad, I’ll clean it up.”

“Fine, fine. I may have exaggerated. She can live, for now.” he said and walked out of the room and straight into the kitchen. He grabbed a beer from the fridge and opened it, the fridge door still open. He decided he wasn’t hungry so he closed the door and he jumped when he turned around and saw the cat sitting on the kitchen island, right in front of him.

“God damn it Cleo, stop it with the sneaking around.” She meowed. “You hungry or what?” she meowed again “Fine, c’mon”

*****

“Hello there short stuff” Ian said after Mickey entered the bedroom later that evening.

“I’m serious Ian, call me that one more time and I’ll murder you”

“So defensive, I like that” he said and grinned. Mickey rolled his eyes. “Why don’t you like it? I like that you’re short.” He said and grabbed Mickey hand and dragged him on the bed. “You’re cute and small” he said just to annoy the brunet more.

“I’m not cute and small I’m manly and big” he said with a grumpy voice. Ian couldn’t help but laugh.

“You’re adorable” he said again

“Manly” Mickey corrected him again and Ian just kissed him.

 

* * *

 

 

**A few days later**

 

“Tell your stupid boyfriend to answer the damn phone when I’m calling”

“Hello to you to Mandy. Nice of you to call and see how I’m doing over the weekend. I’m fine, you?” Ian said with a sarcastic tone and he heard Mandy growl.

“Sorry, hello, how are you, good? Well fucking fantastic, great chat. Now put Mickey on” she said in one breath and Ian knew he shouldn’t argue with her over good manners when she was angry so he let out a sigh and handed Mickey the phone. He was standing right next to him on the couch, both of them reading something.

“What?” he asked annoyed

“The hell is your phone?” Mandy asked

“The bedroom, I guess, what the fuck happened that’s got your panties in a twist?”

“What happened? Oh I don’t know. Guess what happened?” she asked and this only got Mickey more annoyed.

“How the fuck should I know? You’re the one calling like a lunatic and disturbing my Saturday” he said and threw his free arm in the air, almost hitting Ian in the head.

“Mickey, what day is today?” she asked

“I just fucking said it’s Saturday” he responded

“I mean the date you blob”

“Oh, uhm June 13th, why?” he asked calmer this time.

“And what are you supposed to be doing on June 13th?” she asked. It took Mickey a few seconds but he finally got it. He closed his eyes and cursed. Ian looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

“Fuck, I forgot again” he said and slapped his forehead.

“Yeah you forgot again dumbass. He’s our brother for crying out loud. Call him now. I just called him, for the 2nd time today because I already called him this morning cause I don’t have Alzheimer like you and I didn’t forget, and I asked him if you called and he said no. Mick, it’s almost 10 pm. CALL HIM” she yelled

“Ok, I’ll call him.” he hung up. “Fuck” he said

“What happened, who died?” Ian asked

“No one, it’s June 13th.” Mickey said

“Ok, yay?” Ian asked confused

“No, it’s Iggy’s birthday and I forgot, again” he said and covered his face with his hands.

“You forget often?”

“No, but I forgot last year as well. I don’t know where my head is half the time. I know we don’t live together anymore, fuck, we haven’t lived together since I was 16 and he was 20. But that doesn’t mean it’s ok to forget someone’s birthday just because you don’t talk to them so often anymore.”

“I’m sure he’ll understand” Ian said. “Just call him, apologize and everything’s going to be fine” Mickey nodded and went to the bedroom to get his phone. He swiped the screen and searched for Iggy’s contact.

*****

“Just talked to him. He said he’s not mad that I forgot. I think Mandy was angrier than he was. I mean, he didn’t even sound angry. Anyways, told him you said happy birthday too.” He said and jumped back on the couch

“Thanks but I think I’ll call him too, in a few minutes.” He placed his laptop on the small table and turned to face Mickey “I think I want you to read what I wrote so far” Ian said and smiled. Mickey blinked

“Are you serious? You said no one will ever read it. Better yet, let me quote -This will never, ever, ever, ever in a million and quadrillion years see the light of day and no one will ever lay their eyes upon this piece of trash – unquote. And I’m serious, you said those exact words when I asked you last week.”

“Well I may have exaggerated a little” Ian said

“You think?”

“Ok, fine, a lot. But hey, I wasn’t sure it’s worth the reading. Anyway, you can read it and only after you finished it, don’t care if it sucks, go through it, even if it kills your soul, and only after that you can tell me what you think.”

“You got yourself a deal Gallagher. And if it doesn’t suck as badly as you say it does, then what?”

“Then I’ll finish it and I’ll let you give it to that publisher friend of yours.”

“Really?” Mickey asked with a grin “You want to go through with this?”

“Yeah, I guess” Ian shrugged

“Give me the laptop then” Mickey said and gestured to the gray laptop on the table.

“Ugm, you so lazy you can’t even reach for it” Ian said and grabbed it. He handed it over to the brunet who made himself comfortable.

“Now go away, I must read in peace.” He said and gestured his hand for Ian to get up.

“Fine, I’m going out anyway” he said and stood up.

“Now?” Mickey asked

“Yeah, I promised Lily. She said she’ll be here at 10:30. Don’t think I’ll be out long. I’ll go change” he said and kissed Mickey on the top of his head.

*****

“I’m going now, have fun reading” Ian shouted from the door. Mickey just said “Ok” without looking from the laptop screen. Ian just giggled and shouted again “Love you”

“Love you” Mickey said, without looking up from the screen.


	16. How long do cats live?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I used a bunch of quotes from Friends in this chapter because why not? :)) it's my favorite tv-series of all time so yeah, I had to :))
> 
> Enjoy :D

“Mornin’ short stuff” Ian said as he opened his eyes the next morning. He yawned and stretched his arms. “Wait, what are you doing?” he said after he noticed Mickey was getting dressed. It was a Sunday morning, wasn’t it? Has he skipped an entire day?

“Getting dressed” Mickey said while looking for a shirt in the closet

“Why?” Ian asked

“Well, when I walk outside naked, people throw garbage at me.” Mickey said with a sarcastic but cheerful tone.

“Very funny, but not what I meant. Where are you going? It’s Sunday, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is. I promised Iggy I’ll stop by his place today, apologize for forgetting about his birthday. Not going to stay long, see you when I get back?” he said and leaned over to kiss his boyfriend. Ian nodded and smiled. “By the way, because I fell asleep before you came back last night I didn’t get to tell you what I think.” He said and Ian growled.

“Don’t remind me, I wanted to leave but Lily insisted we stay 5 more minutes. Those 5 minutes turned into 3 hours. She’s like a fucking owl”

“Let me finish carrot top. As I was saying before you so rudely interrupted” he said and eyed Ian who just rolled his eyes “I read it. If that’s what you call garbage then I’m curious what you consider a masterpiece. Ian, it was actually really good. Of course, rough around the edges and well, unfinished, but overall it really was great. I swear, I read published books that were nowhere near as good. And I’m not just saying that, you should finish it” he said and ended it with a grin. Ian blinked.

“You think so? I mean, I always said I would eventually write a book after I finished college. Didn’t major in English Lit for nothing. But I never actually got around to it. Thanks Mick, it means a lot to me that you like it” he said and Mickey kissed him again.

“I’ll see you in a few hours, love you” Mickey said and got up from the edge of the bed.

“Love you too” Ian said and watched Mickey leave. A few seconds later Mickey entered the bedroom again with a sigh

“How long do cats live? Like assuming you don’t throw ‘em under a bus or something?” he asked and Ian raised an eyebrow

“What’d she do AGAIN?”

“Well the books are all around the living room floor, every single one of them” Ian got up from the bed

“I’ll put them back Mick, just go and try not to step on the cat on your way out”

“I’ll try my best, no promises” he said and left the bedroom.

Ian was on the edge of the bed. He rubbed his eyes with both hands and after a few more seconds he stood up. He heard the front door open and the close. He stepped out of the bedroom and saw the mess.

“Why do you always do shit like these Cleo? You weren’t like this back home.” He asked the feline who was sitting in the center of the mess, looking very proud of her work. “Go on, shoo, before I shave your fur.” He said and gestured with his hands towards the cat making her run.

*****

“Hey dear, how are you?” Ian heard Mickey say on the other line and raised an eyebrow.

“Dear? What, are you high or something?” he asked amused

“Oh that’s great, I’m fine too, here with Iggy and his girlfriend Susan” ooohhh Ian got it. She is that chick Mickey refers to as “Miss I know what’s best for everyone”.

“You’re so uncomfortable right now, aren’t ya?” he asked the brunet and laughed.

“Yep, pretty much. Good news, they are coming over for dinner later. Susan insisted I call you right now so you have time to figure out what we’re going to eat” he said with a tone so false it almost made Ian cry from laughter.

“Oh did she now? Is she bossy? Did Mickey Milkovich find a rival in bossiness?” he asked with a grin

“I don’t really think that’s even a word. Anyways, you figure that out and I’ll see you in about an hour, I have to stop by an old friend’s house to drop something off for Iggy, ok?”

“Fine Mister boss man Milkovich, I’ll be waiting here, alone. Wait, not alone, with your favorite pet” he said still keeping the grin

“I love you” he said between his teeth but Ian knew he actually said I hate you. He laughed

“Love you too boss” he said and hung up.

*****

“Hey, you’re back” Ian said with a smile an hour later.

“Yeah, sure.” He said very vaguely

“Did something go wrong at that friend’s place?” Ian asked with an eyebrow raised. Mickey sighed.

“No exactly. I remember he was an unusual fellow but this was something else.” He said and jumped on the couch.

“What was it?”

“You know how you come home at the end of the day and throw your jacket on a chair?”

“Yeah” he asked unsure of where Mickey was going with this.

“Well imagine that instead of a jacket, it’s a pile of garbage. And instead of a chair, it’s a pile of garbage. And instead of the end of the day, it’s the end of time and garbage is all that has survived.” He said with a dramatic voice and Ian burst with laughter.

“What the hell?” he asked still laughing

“Man, that house was a dump. And I don’t mean, oh there’s a piece of paper on the floor and some on the desk dump, no, no, there was actual garbage on the … well everywhere. I thought the mess was going to swallow me whole.”

“Man that’s something, I guess” he kept laughing. “Anyways, I placed the books back in their place. Figured out what we should cook, and by cook I mean order from some fancy restaurant and she won’t know the difference, went out and bought some more whiskey cause you devoured the last bottle, AND cleaned the house” he said proudly

“Well look at you, just like a 50’s house wife, minus the ordering food thing. Good girl.” Mickey said and ruffled Ian’s hair.

“Haha, very funny. Can I ask you for an advice?” Ian said and turned his body towards Mickey.

“I’m not so good with the advice. Can I interest you in a sarcastic comment?” Mickey said and Ian rolled his eyes.

“I’m serious Mick” he said and Mickey stopped laughing

“Sorry, shoot” he said and straightened his back.

“I was thinking of inviting Frank over next weekend. Haven’t really talked to him since mom died, figure I owe him that much, even though he made my life miserable. What do you think?” he asked and searched Mickey’s eyes for answers. Mickey was biting his lower lip and squinted, like he was thinking about it.

“Yeah, ok, doesn’t seem like such a bad idea, I guess. We can survive one dinner, sure, invite him. I guess it’s time to properly meet the man, at the funeral he was kind of … distracted, to put it mildly.” He said and Ian nodded.

“Ok then, I’ll call him one of these days. Now, tell me, why were you talking like a domestic little boy over the phone?” he asked and laughed making Mickey frown.

“Shut up, it was so annoying. She’s like the most annoying and cheerful woman on the face of the earth. And you know it’s just an act she puts for other people, you can hear the falseness she talks with. It’s like you want to dig a whole and stay in there for all eternity”

“That’s a very colorful description Mick, so glad she’s coming over. Just, try and hold in the sarcasm a little” he said with a chuckle.

“I don’t make promises I’m not sure I can keep” he said and got up from the couch going straight to the bathroom.

*****

“So, Ian, what college did you go to?” Susan asked after they finished dinner. Just as Ian thought, she didn’t even notice this wasn’t something they made.

“NYU” he said

“Nice, good college. Major?” she asked

“English Lit” he said again.

“And you’re working as an assistant?” she asked raising an eyebrow. Ian heard Mickey taking a deep breath, ready to say something but he placed his hand on Mickey’s knee and tapped it so he would understand not to say anything rude.

“Yeah, it’s a bit hard to work in that particular field. Maybe as a teacher but I don’t think I’m up for it” he said honestly and really tried to keep a sincere smile on.

“Why did you chose it then?” now Ian was getting annoyed. The fuck is it to her?

“I don’t know, I like English literature, I guess” he said between his teeth. Mickey sensed the tension so he cleared his throat

“Why don’t we just go in the living room? My back is killing me here.” he said as politely as Mickey could.

“Sounds good” Iggy said quickly sensing the tension as well.

They were all sitting in the living room, talking, mostly about work stuff when Susan spoke. She was next to the book shelf, looking at the books.

“Wow, you guys sure have a lot of books about being gay” When Mickey heard that he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and then opened them again. He smiled and turned his head towards her.

“Well, you know, you have to take a course. Otherwise they don’t let you do it.” he said sarcastically and Ian let out a snort of laughter. Iggy did the same.

“Really?” she asked amazed

“No, not really” Mickey answered with a dry tone. Ian cleared his throat.

“Who wants coffee?” he asked cheerfully. No one answered.

“No but seriously, how was it to come out, or where you always ok with it?” Mickey was 99% sure that he will appear on the news next morning for murdering his brother’s girlfriend.

“Well Susan, it wasn’t a walk in the park. Up until I was 18 and still lived in my homophobic dad’s house I was so deep in the closet I practically saw Narnia” he said and this time Iggy couldn’t hold his laughter. Susan gave him a death glare.

“Let your brother talk Iggy. That’s not a nice thing to do” she said with a very “mom” tone.

“Sorry” he said and closed his moth although he was still trying really hard not to laugh.

“Then what happened?” she asked

“After that I went to college and well, things were different. Then dad died so yeah, I finally saw the end of the gay rainbow” he said and Iggy laughed again. Susan finally got the hint that Mickey was making fun of her so she smiled

“I see, you use sarcasm as a defense mechanism. I know a lot of people like you” she said with a “smart” tone.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing, Susan.” Mickey said and made sure to emphasize her name.

“Ok, someone has had enough to drink. Susan, I think it’s time to go” Iggy said and went straight to his girlfriend.

“I think so too. It was nice meeting you Ian.” she said and looked at the redhead who nodded and said “same” real quickly. “Mickey, always a pleasure” she said with the same sarcastic tone he used all night.

“Of course, the feeling is mutual” he said and grinned.

Everyone said goodbye and tried not to rip each other’s throats. Ian closed the door behind them and then leaned on it with a sigh.

“That was … horrible” he finally said “You just couldn’t hold it in, could you?” he asked the brunet with a grin. Mickey returned the grin. “She isn’t such a bad person if you go past the colorful personality and disgusting positivity she displays”

“You could not be more wrong. You could try, but you would not be successful.” Mickey said from the couch.

“Fine, this time you’re right. She’s way too weird for my taste.” He said and took a seat next to Mickey “Now what?”

“Now we ignore the mess in the kitchen and waste our time with useless stuff. Then in the morning we’ll regret it and hurry to clean everything before we go to work” Mickey said and threw his head on the back of the couch.

“Sounds like a brilliant plan” Ian said and laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, don't know how many more chapters this will have, but not a lot.
> 
> Hope you liked it and didn't mind all the Friends quotes I stole :)) there were a lot :)) :D


	17. It’s a family thing

“Could you go get that? I’m busy” Ian yelled from the bedroom. Mickey sighed and got up from the couch and went to open the front door.

“Lip, to what do we owe the pleasure?” Mickey asked as he stepped aside so Lip could enter.

“Well I haven’t seen Ian in a while so I decided to stop by” he said casually. He looked around the apartment, to analyze it. He’d only been there once since they moved. “The place finally looks habitable. Last time I was here there were boxes everywhere.”

“Yeah that’s because the last time you were here it was the day we moved in jackass. And that happened to be weeks ago. Since then, believe it or not, we actually had time to clean up” he said and walked passed him and went straight to the bedroom.

“Ian, you’re douchebag is here” he said poking his head around the bedroom door. Ian looked up from his laptop.

“My what?” he asked confused

“You’re brother. Did you not hear me?”

“No, because you said my douchebag, not brother” he said raising an eyebrow

“Yeah but the words have the same meaning so what’s your point?”

“No point” he sighed “Anyway, what does he want?”

“Fuck if I know. Said he wants to see you or something” Mickey answered and left the door wide open and went back to the living room area. Ian growled and dropped the laptop on the other side of the bed and got up.

“Hey Lip, to what do we owe the pleasure?” Ian asked as he made his way to the living room.

“Wow you guys even start to talk the same. What’s next? Matching shirts?” Lip asked with a grin. Of course, Ian had no idea what he was talking about so he just raised an eyebrow and then shrugged.

“Anyways, what is it?” he asked his brother again

“What? I can’t visit my brother without an ulterior motive?”

“You can, it’s just not something you do” Ian said and Mickey snickered.

Mickey never got what Mandy sees in this guy. He knows he’s Ian’s brother and he shouldn’t be so rude whenever he’s around but he just can’t seem to like the dude. Something about the way he acts around people, so false. Not to mention he’s a pretentious motherfucker. Always thinks he’s better than the rest. He once told Mickey that Ian was too good for him. Mickey laughed in his face and told him that he was right. Lip didn’t expect that answer. That happened a few days after Lip made that visit over at Ian’s apartment and saw Mickey there and found out about them. Ever since then he kind of started to secretly hate him a little.

“Ok fine, it’s not actually a favor or something. It’s Amanda’s birthday next week and she invited me and Mandy over. I don’t know what her plan is but I don’t like it and I did the stupid thing and told Mandy that she invited us and she wants us to go just so she can analyze her or some shit like that. Isn’t it a bit weird to go to an ex’s birthday with the current girlfriend?”

“What are you expecting me to say?” Ian said shrugging his shoulders and throwing his hands in his pockets.

“I don’t know, tell me it’s a bad idea and that I should try and convince Mandy not to go”

“Well you already said it yourself, why do you need me to say it too?” Ian asked

“I just needed a third person’s opinion” he said and turned to Mickey who was still on the couch looking at the two brothers talking in front of him “What do you say?” he asked Mickey. The brunet’s eyebrows flew up in an instant and he let out a small chuckle.

“What can I say? I care so little I almost passed out a moment ago” he said. Ian let out a sigh and Lip laughed

“OK, I get it that you don’t like me. But it’s about your sister”

“No, actually it’s just about you. It’s your ex-girlfriend, not hers, and if she wants to go then go. You won’t change Mandy’s mind even if you bring her 100 people that agree with you.” Lip sighed and took a seat on the couch. That same instant Mickey stood up from his spot and went into the kitchen.

“You’re boyfriend’s a darling.” Lip said and Ian laughed

“I know he’s a bit hostile around a few people but he’s a good guy” he said and took a seat next to his brother.

“Really? You actually love him? When you two first hooked up I thought it was because you were excited to have a hidden relationship and that for him it was a thrill to fuck the cute assistant. But when you told me you were moving in together I was honestly shocked.”

“Yeah, I actually do love him and he’s not how you think he is. He just isn’t a very open person towards other people. He only feels comfortable with a few people he’s close with.”

“That’s exactly what Mandy said to describe him.” he ran a hand through his hair “I’m not here to give you relationship advice Ian. Sorry if I come across as annoying but I’m only looking out for you”

“You know, that was fine when we were younger and still lived at home. But believe it or not I’m 24 now and I think I can manage on my own” he knew it came out a bit sarcastic and rude but it wasn’t intentional.

“Whatever, but don’t come crying to me when something goes wrong, like you usually do. I’m sick of telling you I told you so” they weren’t aware that Mickey was standing behind them besides the kitchen door until they heard him snort. They both turned around and looked at him. He was holding the cat. Well that was new.

“Is something the matter?” Lip asked

“No, nothing at all. Quite the opposite, I actually love this moment so much, I want to have sex with it.” he said with a grin.

“You’re so funny Michael. Very funny man. I now understand why Ian loves you. I mean, who wouldn’t, right?” Lip asked. Mickey hated when somebody called him that. He just hated it.

“Oh Phillip” he said and put the cat on the ground and walked forward “You seem unhappy with my opinions. I like that.” Lip chose to ignore the brunet and turned back to Ian

“And you want me to believe he’s a nice guy? Ian, the murderers I meet at the courthouse are nicer than him” he said and Ian just closed his eyes and rubbed his temples.

“Lip, please, don’t start a whole discussion here. Can’t we act like adult for once?”

“I can but I’m not so sure about chuckles over there.” He said and pointed to the man behind the couch. Lip stood up so he could see both of them at the same time. “What, are you telling me I’m the only person he talk to like this?”

“Well no, you aren’t. But don’t worry, you’re on the top of my idiot list” Mickey answered back. He knew he was acting like a douche but he just couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

“Seriously Ian?” Lip asked again

“Why you keep asking Ian if it’s me you’re talking about?”

“Shut up.” He said looking at Mickey “Ian, I think you should seriously reconsider this” he said and pointed from Mickey and back to Ian when he said “this”. “Seriously, you’re so much better than him.”

“You know what Lip, you may want what’s best for me and all and you may not understand a lot of things that I do but never again try to tell me what to do with my personal life. That’s why it’s called that way, it’s my damn life. What can I say, you’re always a major dick when it comes to Mickey, no wonder he doesn’t like you. I mean, the first time you saw him after you found out about us you told him that he isn’t good enough for me? Really? What gave you the right? If I was his boss and he was the assistant, then I would have said that you’re concerned he’s only sleeping with me for the money but it’s the other way around.” when he finished he realized it came out wrong “Wait, I don’t mean I’m with him for the money…oh never mind, you get it” he said and threw his hands in the air.

“Ian, that’s not” he was cut short

“No, I’m not finished. Look, I never in my life told you who you should or shouldn’t be with, right?” he asked and Lip nodded “So then why tell me? You think I’m a 15 year old in love for the first time?”

“Of course not” he said ashamed.

“Then stop fucking around my life and start making better decisions in your own damn life. Because you aren’t as special as you think you are.”

“Scratch what I said earlier. This moment is so much better. I'd cheat on that other moment from before, marry this one and raise a family of tiny little moments.” Mickey said and it made Ian turn to him with an angry look. Mickey’s smile fell off.

“And you, you are such a child sometimes. I know he’s annoying as fuck but try and be a more mature person than he is. I know sarcasm is your thing but tone it down sometimes” Ian said and got up from the couch. “Honestly, sometimes I can’t with any of you” he said and angrily walked into the bedroom and shut the door behind him with a loud bang.

“Well I guess we pissed him off” Lip said and laughed. Mickey laughed too.

“Huh I think it’s the first time I actually agree with you Gallagher” he said.

“Well I think I’ll go. Sorry for all this mess.” Lip said and walked towards the front door.

“Neah, I was I jerk too. Look, if you want Mandy to change her mind just tell her you really don’t want to go. But say it with honesty and she’ll understand. It’s that simple” he said and opened the door for the other man.

“Thanks, I’ll tell her. See you around Mickey” he said and walked out of the apartment

“Yeah, see you Lip” the brunet said and closed the door.

*****

“Can I come in?” he asked after knocking on the bedroom door.

“Whatever” came from the other side but Mickey entered anyway

“Look, sorry for what I said before. You know I can’t keep my mouth shut when I’m angry”

“I know but I really don’t like it when I see you don’t get along with my family.”

“Look, it’s not because it’s your family. I talk like that with my family too. It’s just who I am. Come on, stop looking all sad like a Disney princess who was just told she couldn’t marry the dreamy prince she met 5 minutes ago and come watch a movie with me” he said while sitting next to the redhead on the bed.

“Which one?” Ian asked

“What?”

“Which princess?”

“Oh I don’t know. All of them? Isn’t that their thing?” he asked and Ian laughed

“You’re such a dork” he said and kissed the brunet.

 

* * *

 

 

“Dad called me, he’s on his way” Ian said and dropped the glass he was holding. It fell on the rug so it was still in one piece.

“Calm down, mister -I’m not nervous my dad’s coming for dinner-. You need a drink or something?” Mandy asked from the couch. Ian insisted she and Lip come too. He was just too nervous to be with his dad without any of his siblings.

“Or something” Ian answered and took a seat

“Look, Ian, dad’s not going to give you shit like he used to. He’s changed a lot over the years. You’ll see” Lip said.

“Somehow that’s not something I believe but thanks for the info”

Mandy got up from the couch and went into the bedroom. She knew Mickey was there changing.

“Your orange boyfriend is freaking out” she said from the door frame. Mickey sighed

“I know. I told him not to, that it’s not going to be like when he was little. But it’s like talking to a wall.” He said and grabbed a pair of socks from a drawer.

“Anyways, does this lipstick make me look like a clown?” she asked her brother all of the sudden. He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. Like he gives a crap.

“No...it makes you look like a prostitute who caters exclusively to clowns.” He said and she rolled her eyes.

“That’s what I get for asking a dumbass” she said and turned around. When she got back to the other two boys she asked Ian the same thing.

“Uhm, no?” he answered but it was more of a question. He looked over at Lip who was giving him a “don’t mind her” look.

“A house full of useless people” she said throwing her hands in the air.

“Well Mandy, if you’re not sure about the color why buy the damn lipstick?” Lip asked

“I like it”

“Then why the fuck are you asking all of us if it looks bad?” Mickey asked all of the sudden making them turn to see him. Before she could answer there was a knock on the door.

“I’ll open it” Lip said and ran to the door. “I’m afraid little miss shaky over there will stumble and fall over dad when he sees him in the doorway” he said and pointed to Ian. The redhead rolled his eyes. There was a lot of eye rolling involved with these families.

*****

“So Ian, this is a nice place you guys have. Are you renting it?” Frank asked as they were eating. It’s been about half an hour since he arrived and Ian still couldn’t stop shaking. The fuck is wrong with him? He never was nervous before when he had to meet his dad.

“No, it’s Mickey’s. He bought it when he decided we should move in” Ian quickly said before Mickey could.

“Oh that’s nice.” He said awkwardly. Everything about this evening was awkward. Right after that the cat jumped on Ian’s lap and scared him a little. He was too concentrated on not dropping his fork from all the shaking.

“Oh you have a cat?” Frank asked

“Yeah, her name’s Cleo” Mickey answered for Ian

“Cleo?” Frank asked and smiled

“Yeah, why is that unusual?” Lip asked

“Not unusual, just reminded me of something” he said still smiling.

“Of what?” Ian asked curiously

“I remember when you were in the 4th grade and you had an assignment for English class. And you wrote quite a long story about a girl named Cleo that lived in a land where everything was black and white because of some curse. You wrote about what she had to do to restore the colors back to the land. It was a fascinating story for a child to write” he finished saying and Ian’s mouth fell open. Everyone was looking either at Ian or at Frank.

“You read that?” Ian finally asked

“If I read it? Of course. I actually still have it at the house. You were so proud you got an A+ and you kept talking about it for days. One day I found it on your desk and read it.”

“I thought you never gave a crap about my stuff” Ian said quietly and Frank sighed

“I know I wasn’t a good father, I’m aware of that. But I did actually give a crap. Every time you did something like that, it didn’t matter if it was a story you wrote or something else, it reminded me of how much you are like my brother and nothing like me. You were the spitting image of him. I was mad that you were his son and not mine. I was a real idiot and I didn’t realize that I didn’t matter that you were his son because you were there with me and that meant you were mine as well. I wasted all those years trying to shut you down instead of taking care of you. I know it’s too late now but I’m glad I finally got the balls to say it.” If this night was awkward before now you could call it awkward planet and they were the only people left on it. Nobody knew what to say. They were looking anywhere but at the two men talking. Well, Frank was doing the talking.

“Uhm guys, did I show you the new soap dispenser in the bathroom?” Mickey asked Mandy and Lip with a cheerful tone.

“No you didn’t. I really wanna see it” Mandy said quickly and got up.

“Me too, been thinking of changing mine for ages” Lip said and got up as well. All three of them walked out of the dining area and left the two men alone.

“They are as subtle as a fucking hammer” Ian said

“They tried” Frank said and laughed

“Listen, I don’t know what to say dad. I can’t just forget everything that happened from just a talk. I’m sorry that you felt that way but I’m also sorry for the young version of me who fell asleep crying half his childhood because he didn’t knew why his father hated him” Ian said taking a sip from his drink.

“I know. I don’t expect you to forgive me all of the sudden. But I wanted to ask if you would like to maybe come by the house more often or something. We can at least try and salvage what’s left of this” he said and Ian nodded

“Yeah, I guess that’s a start” he said and smiled. “Guys, you can come back in, it’s safe again” he shouted and a few seconds later they all appeared acting like nothing was wrong.

“That was one heck of a dispenser” Lip said as they were taking their previous seats

“I bet” Ian answered and laughed.

The evening became less awkward after that and they actually got to enjoy it.


	18. You’re going down

“Soap dispenser? Really?” Ian asked after he closed the door behind his father. Everyone started to laugh.

“What can I say? It was the first thing that popped into my head.” Mickey said with a shrug. Ian shook his head and smiled.

“Hey I wanna watch a movie. It’s supposed to be very good. Can we watch it? Pleaseee?” Mandy pleaded. The other three men all sighed but eventually agreed.

“What movie are we watching exactly?” Mickey asked

“Oh it’s French, I forgot the title” Mandy said as she took a seat on the couch.

“Why do I have to watch a French movie, I didn’t do anything wrong?” Mickey asked again.

“Oh stop complaining you idiot. You guys wanna watch it, right?” she asked turning to the two brothers. They both flashed a fake smile and said “Yeaahhh” together. Mandy grinned.

After an hour and a half of foreign nonsense the credits rolled and Mickey finally blinked.

“Well that was … I don’t even know what that was” he said and rubbed his eyes with both hands.

“That was some weird ass porn” Lip said after stretching.

“Oh c’mon that was hardly porn. It was a topless woman on a tractor. You know what they call that in Europe? A cereal commercial.” Mandy said and they all laughed. “But I have to agree, it was not a good movie, I don’t know what I was thinking” she finally said

“So you didn’t like it?” Ian asked and she shook her head no “Then why the hell did we watch it? You could have said something sooner”

“I don’t know. I hoped it would get better, I was wrong”

“So, Ian, that was some intense conversation you had with dad” Lip said a few minutes later. They were all still in the living room.

“Yeah, you know, all my life I grew up with an emotionally distant father. Then I moved out and entered an emotionally violent relationship. By now it’s just a miracle I didn’t end up a stripper.” Ian said and Mandy spit her drink.

“Oh my god, I can picture it” Mandy said and laughed “I have to say, it wouldn’t be the worst thing that could happen” she said and winked at Ian. They all laughed.

They kept on talking for like an hour. They started talking about movies. Then things got weird when Lip and Mickey started arguing about which is better: Star Wars or Star Trek. Lip was saying Start Trek, Mickey the other.

“C’mon Mickey, admit Start Trek is better” Lip said with a smirk

“I wish I could but I don’t want to because it’s not true” he said and crossed his arm.

“When did we get so lucky to find people so special?” Ian whispered into Mandy’s ear. She snorted with laughter

“Don’t know but we hit the loser lottery jackpot” she said. They kept watching the other two men arguing.

“You wanna settle this the hard way? Because if you do you’re going down” Mickey said and got up.

“Oh, yeah? Well you’re going further down. Downtown!” Lip said and also got up. Ian and Mandy couldn’t stop laughing at how pathetic they sounded

“Seriously, guys, the trash talk is embarrassing.” Ian said and both men looked at him “Besides, how the hell are you going to settle an argument over movies the hard way? Is that even possible?”

“Uhm, I don’t know. I didn’t think it through” Mickey said and took a seat back on the couch.

“Ok, this was wonderful, it really was, but we have to get going Lip. I’m tired as hell and it’s 2 in the morning” Mandy said as she got up from her seat.

They all said goodbye and Mickey closed the door behind the two of them. Ian was lying on the couch with his eyes closed.

“You really had an argument with Lip about which movie is better?” Ian asked and giggled. His eyes were still closed. “I hate you and I love you and the same time right now”

“Why?” Mickey laughed

“Well I hate you because you’re such a dork and I love you because you’re such a dork”

“Ah yes, that I am” he said “C’mon sleepy head, let’s go. We’ll clean all this in the morning”

 

* * *

 

 

2 weeks later.

“Guys, I did something stupid” Lip said after Mickey opened the apartment door. He passed right by the brunet and even pushed his shoulder a little in the process. Lip was now in the middle of the living room going around in circles and biting his nails.

“Come right it, why don’t ya?” Mickey asked still standing with his hand on the door handle. “The fuck did you do?” he asked after closing the door. Ian stepped out of the bedroom in his boxers. After taking a second look, Lip saw that Mickey was also in his boxers.

“Oh fuck, I interrupted something, didn’t I?” he asked and slapped his forehead. Ian laughed.

“You kind of did Gallagher.” Mickey responded and smiled.

“Well isn't this just slap-me-in-the-face, kick-me-in-the-crotch fantastic?” he asked with a maniac laugh.

“Uhm what the hell happened?” Ian asked. Lip was freaking him out.

“Well you know how I told you guys that Amanda invited us to her birthday?” he asked and both men nodded “Well we ended up not going. The thing is, the next day she came by my office” they were both looking at him

“Who?” Ian asked

“Amanda, who the fuck else?” he yelled “Anyway” he said calmer “She came by my office and asked me if there was a special reason why we didn’t go to her stupid party. I told her that it’s weird to go with your current girlfriend at an ex’s party.”

“Ok, then what?” Ian asked. He was curious now.

“Well then she came right next to me and started to touch my arms and well, she flirted. Mandy’s going to kill me” he said

“Wait, did you sleep with her?” Mickey asked, Lip shook his head no “Did you kiss her?” again, no “Did you touch her?” still, no. “Then why the fuck would she kill you?” he asked and threw his hands in the air

“Because now I know that she wants to get back together. I don’t want to but I know that she does and it’s bugging me. Should I tell Mandy?” both men shrugged. “Oh c’mon, give me something here, anything”

“The best I can give you is a fake smile and dead eyes.” Mickey said and Lip rolled his eyes then turned to Ian

“What?” He asked and then sighed when he saw the desperate look in Lip’s eyes “All right, look if you absolutely have to tell her the truth, at least wait until the timing's right. And that's what deathbeds are for.”

“Oh so now you’re a joker too? C’mon guys this is so hard for meeee” he complained and Mickey snorted while rolling his eyes.

“Oh, I know, this must be so hard. "Oh no, another woman besides my girlfriend wants me. Even though I don’t want her, and I can just as easily tell her that so she would get off my back I don’t because I want to have a reason to complain about something. My actual girlfriend is perfect, MY WALLET’S TOO SMALL FOR MY BENJAMINS AND MY EXPENSIVE SHOES ARE TOO TIGHT!” Mickey yelled while mimicking Lip’s voice. Both Gallaghers looked at him wide eyed.

“Fine, I get your point. I complain too much. But I don’t know what to do. Do I tell Mandy what happened and let her deal with Amanda or do I tell Amanda to stop calling me. Seriously, she’s been calling me non-stop.”

“Nooo, telling Mandy isn’t a great idea. She will run her over with a car” Mickey said and Lip raised an eyebrow.

“OK, so not telling Mandy. But it’s a little tough when Amanda keeps calling me all day.”

“Block her number then. Simple as that. If she calls you from a different number, block that one too” Ian said and Mickey agreed.

“Ok, good, I’ll do that. I have to go” he said quickly and walked to the door and stormed out without a warning.

“Man, you’re family’s weird Gallagher” Mickey said

“Don’t I know it?”

 

* * *

 

 

 “I fucked up” Lip said 2 days later. The three of them were in Mickey’s office.

“Why the hell are we on that subject again?” Mickey asked annoyed from his chair. “And Gallagher, you’re fly’s open” he said casually and both brothers looked down and then both looked back at Mickey who was grinning “I always wanted to say that when you two were together. Wanted to see if both of you would look” he said and laughed

“As I said before: such a child” Ian said and shook his head but couldn’t help to smile a little.

“Ok, so what exactly happened this time?” Mickey eventually asked

“So I called Amanda and told her to stop calling me and stop coming by my office and she agreed. So I thought everything was ok. But then she started calling me again and I blocked her number after Mandy started asking who the hell was calling me so much. Then she started calling me with a different number. And it kept going and going and Mandy was asking all sorts of question and then I had to tell her that Ian was calling me to talk about Mickey’s birthday party next month. Long story short, we’re all going to New York for Mickey’s birthday” he said

“What now?” Mickey asked and blinked

“Yeah, one lie led to another and another and so yeah, SURPRISE” he said with a fake cheerful voice and threw his hands in the air.

“What surprise idiot? We’re not actually going” Ian said

“And what should I tell her to get out of this one?” he asked desperate

“So, before you start lying about lying about lying about lying about lying ....about.... STOP LYING!!” Mickey yelled “Just tell her the damn truth, that the bitch annoyed you but you didn’t want her to know and that’s that. End of the fucking story”

“Like you don’t know her. It’s not that easy. Nothing’s easy with Mandy” he sighed “But fine, I’ll go talk to her right now” he said and exited the office, going to Mandy’s probably.

“Damn, he’s seriously not right in the head. Something’s unscrewed there and it fell loose” Mickey said and started typing again. Ian was still in the chair across from his desk. “Don’t you have work Gallagher?” he asked looking back at the redhead

“It’s my break and I’m not hungry and Lily’s home sick with the flu” he said casually

“And she’s the only one who you talk to here?” the brunet asked raising an eyebrow

“No, I’m just not in the mood to see other people right now. Why, am I bothering you?” he asked with a smirk

“No, just asking”

Ten minutes later Lip barged back in.

“I fucked up” he said the second time today and Mickey growled

“What the fuck, is this a déjà vu?” Mickey asked and looked at Ian who just shrugged. “The hell Gallagher?” he asked looking at Lip.

“I went into her office and I couldn’t tell her so now not only are we going to New York but we are also going to Las Vegas right after”

“What the hell? No we are not!” Mickey yelled

“I don’t know, this whole pretend birthday trip is starting to sound actually good” Ian said and Mickey send his a death glare “Or not” he eventually said.

“Oh for the love of …” Mickey said and got up. He walked angrily past Lip and went out of the office.

Both Gallaghers remained there and 3 minutes later Mickey came back in.

“Right, I told her. She’s mad but not that Amanda called you but because you told her like a gazillion lies just to cover something she wouldn’t have been mad about in the first place. Go fix it” he told Lip

“Oh thanks a lot Mickey. You’re just the best” Lip yelled and stormed out.

“Mick, what the fuck?” Ian asked

“What?” he laughed “I'm not even going to pretend I’m sorry” he said honestly. “He shouldn’t have lied like a moron over something so stupid. Now he turned all of this into a huge fucking mess.”

“Whatever, I’m going back to work” Ian said and walked out.

All Ian could do now was to wait for Lip to get out of Mandy’s office and see what the damage was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter was so rushed and messy but I'm waiting for some news too see if I'm moving to another country or not so yeah, you could say I'm a bit nervous :)))


	19. These things never seem to last long

“Ian, it’s been a god damn week. When is he going to his own house?” Mickey asked his boyfriend. They were both sitting on the edge of their bed, talking not so loud so Lip wouldn’t hear them.

“Shut up Mick, you’re not so innocent in all this. You were the one who told her” Ian said and Mickey scoffed.

“Pff give me a break, the only one who is to blame here is your brother for not telling her the fucking truth from the start. Yes, she would have over reacted and maybe even killed the bitch but at least she wouldn’t have been mad at that idiot. If there’s something that Mandy truly hates in this world, that’s lying. She hates liars because all her life guys lied to her to get into her pants. Besides, she didn’t break up with him, just needs some time to think. She won’t leave him, she loves the idiot too much, don’t know why though” Mickey said and got up from the bed “Still don’t understand why he can’t go to his own fucking apartment”

“He says all the things remind him of her” Ian said and Mickey laughed

“Dear God, she’s not dead. She’ll take him back in a few days, 2 weeks tops. He needs to start acting like a fucking dude.”

“Oh sorry mister “I’m too cool for emotions” didn’t know you were such an emotionless creature” Ian said and Mickey threw a pillow at his head “Ow, what was that for?” he asked the brunet.

“For being a douche. I’m not an emotionless creature you stupid blob, it’s just, he’s overreacting. She never even said she broke up with him. She clearly said that she needs a few days to calm down, that’s all.” He opened the closet and grabbed some clothes “I’m going to take a shower and then we’re going to work. Don’t know about him but I still need to be there.”

“Fine, you go and until you’re done there I’ll go check on him, see if he’s still alive” Ian said and got up from the bed, pulled a pair of grey sweats on and walked in the living room to see if Lip’s there.

And there he was, sprawled on the couch with the cat on his chest and his eyes closed.

“Are you still with us?” Ian asked carefully. Lip growled.

“These things never seem to last long” he said all of the sudden. Ian frowned.

“What things?” he asked and carefully grabbed the cat and placed her on the floor so she could move again. Lip was practically strangling her.

“Relationships Ian, they never last. You think you found the one you never want to let go and then she’s gone” Oh Jesus, Mickey was right, he is overreacting. Ian let out a sigh.

“C’mon Lip, she didn’t break up with you. Why be so dramatic? You never cared when a girl dumped you before and in this case it’s not even an issue because she didn’t actually dump you. She just needs a few days. Mickey told me how much she hates lies. She’ll get over it in no time” he tried to comfort his brother but it was like he was talking to a wall. The next thing Lip did was to let out a loud sob that only made Ian roll his eyes.

“Her stuff is still in my house, her coat is still on the couch and other small things I can’t ignore.” He said and hugged a pillow.

“Oh for crying out loud! Look at you, it’s like you’re a big baby. Get the fuck up from the couch and go to work. She’s not dead, she’s not gone forever. She’ll call you anytime now. Do you want to look” he gestured to the clothes he’s been wearing for a few days now “and smell like this when she finally does call?” Lip shook his head no. “Then go take a fucking shower, change you’re damn clothes and go to work”

“I don’t have clean clothes here” he said lamely and Ian sighed again.

“Go take a shower, borrow some pants and a shirt from our closet and go home and change in a suit.”

“I don’t think your pants will fit me, you have freakishly long legs” Lip said and looked Ian up and down.

“Then borrow some of Mickey’s, who cares, just please shower first”

“Ok, fine. You’re mean.” he said and turned around to go to the second bathroom. Ian just rolled his eyes and went into the kitchen to make some coffee.

“The shower’s all yours” Mickey said a few minutes later as he grabbed a mug and poured some coffee. Ian nodded, took one more sip and went into the bedroom.

Mickey was enjoying his coffee and reading something on his laptop when Lip appeared in the kitchen with one of Ian’s shirts and a pair of Mickey’s pants. The brunet raised an eyebrow

“Are those my pants?” he asked

“Yeah, Ian said I could borrow some clothes so I can get home and change and then go to work. He also said something about me being a big baby” he said and he poured some coffee. Mickey giggled and looked back at his laptop.

“You can keep them” he said and Lip gave him a confused look “The pants. I ain’t wearing them again”

“Oh fuck you Mickey, I’m not some homeless person who hasn’t showered in months” he said but Mickey ignored him. Ian joined them a few minutes later.

“Ready to go?” he asked them and they both nodded. “Did you feed the cat?” he asked Mickey

“Yeah I gave the beast food. I swear to god, I have no clue where all that food is going because that cat looks like she doesn’t eat more than a biscuit a day” he said.

They all exited the apartment; Ian locked the door and joined the other two men at the elevator. Lip let out another sigh.

“Ugh what now?” Ian asked annoyed. This morning he was the one telling Mickey to give Lip a break because he is sad but this was becoming very annoying, even for Ian.

“Nothing” Lip said

“Go on, delight us” Mickey said and flashed a fake smile

“The thing is, this is all your fault.” he said and pointed to both men.

“Why the fuck?” they asked in unison.

“Because, Ian, you were the one who told me not to tell her anything until her deathbed so that meant that you were ok with me lying about it. Then Mickey said not to tell her because she will murder Amanda. Then when I did just as YOU TWO told me and the thing got complicated all of the sudden you told me that I should definitely tell her the truth because it’s better that way. Then YOU” he said and pointed at Mickey just as the elevator doors opened “you just went and told her everything and made me look like the bad guy and now she’s mad at me” he said and they entered. “Now all of the sudden I’m the only bad guy here and I have to be the one who keeps his mouth shut about his feelings because it’s too girly for you two. What the fuck even?” The other two were still not saying a word. “So, what are you going to say now? That I may need to buy tampons because this speech turned me into a woman?”

“Fine, you’re right” Mickey said and both Ian and Lip looked at him. The elevator doors opened and they exited.

“I am?” Lip asked at the same time Ian asked “He is?”

“Yeah, we are at fault here too. Maybe I should have a talk with Mandy and try and convince her that we are as guilty as Lip is. He did come to us for advice and he did just as we told him, right?” Lip couldn’t believe that Mickey was agreeing with him

“You would do that? Talk to her?”

“Yeah, just go to your house and wait for her. I’m pretty sure she’ll be there in a few hours” he said and Lip nodded. He mumbled a “thanks” and ran to his car.

“Well this is something I wasn’t sure I would ever get to see” Ian said with a grin

“Oh shut up. This is what you wanted no? For him to get his shit together?” Ian nodded “Then shut up and let’s fucking go” he finished and started to walk towards the car. Ian just smiled and followed him.

 

* * *

 

Mickey has entered that office 30 minutes ago and he’s still not out. What the fuck are they talking about for so long? Ian was biting his nails when Louise approached him.

“Hey, that’s a bad habit Ian” she told him so he stopped and smiled.

“Yeah, I do that when I’m nervous” he said and instead of biting his nails he started shaking his legs.

“He’s still in there?” she asked looking at the door. Just then, Lily joined them

“Uh are we having a reunion?” she asked cheerfully “Why are you so stressed?” she asked when she saw Ian.

“Mickey’s still in there talking to Mandy”

“And why are you stressed? They aren’t talking about you” Lily said and rested her elbows on Ian’s desk.

“I know but the bad advice Mickey and I gave him was what brought us here in the first place”

“You know what? While I know it’s none of my business and I may come across as an old lady who likes to intervene, that is not true, what you just said. The fact that you two gave him that advice may not have been the best thing, but he is an adult who thinks for himself and he shouldn’t have listened to you if he wanted to do the right thing. So maybe stop thinking that it’s your fault and next time try and not give him any advice” Louise said.

Ian wanted to say something but right then the door opened and both Mandy and Mickey stepped out and looked at the 3 people staring at them.

“Mickey, is it noon already?” Mandy asked with a fake cheerful tone

“Why let me take a look. Not it isn’t.” he said with the same tone

“Then why are all the employees not at their jobs?” she asked and this time looked at the 3 people who finally got where they were going with all that and each of them apologized and went back to their own desk.

“Ian, while I like that you get along with people here, this is not a place for gossip” Mandy said and looked at the redhead.

“Yeah, sorry. Won’t happen again” he said and she nodded. Then she turned around and walked to the elevator.

“Are you going to be back soon?” Ian asked in a rush

“No, cancel my plans for today. See you tomorrow” she said and when the elevator doors were closing she gave him a small smile.

“So I get it that you changed her mind?” Ian asked Mickey who was still standing there.

“Maybe, we’ll see. At least I got her to go and talk to him for now.” he said and gave the taller man a smile. “I’ll be in my office. Maybe come by later?” he asked

“Oh, I don’t know” Ian started to say with a serious tone that was clearly fake “Mandy said I shouldn’t leave the desk for nothing unless it’s work related.” He finished. Mickey let out a small chuckle

“You do have a lunch break”

“Yeah, it’s for lunch, as in eating food, with my mouth. That’s why it’s called lunch break” he teased

“Oh I can think of a lot of things you can do with your mouth besides eating food” Mickey said and right when Ian wanted to answer they heard someone clearing their throat behind them. Mickey froze and slowly turned around to see who it was.

“Oh thank God, for a second there I thought it was Mendez. That would have been awkward considering just last week and gave him a half an hour speech about why it’s wrong to talk inappropriately to the employees” he said relaxed when he saw that it was Lily.

“Ok, I still want to erase what I just heard but I think I’ll be scarred for life” she said and started to balance uncomfortably on the heels of her feet.

“Ok, I’ll go before this becomes even more awkward” Mickey said and quickly ran to his office.

“Sorry ‘bout that. Are those the papers I asked for?” Ian said and pointed to the folder she was holding.

“Oh yeah, papers, that’s why I’m here” she said and shook her head.

“Next time” she leaned in so she could whisper “look everywhere before you start the dirty talk.” she said and winked. She left after dropping the folder on the desk. Ian just rolled his eyes and gave a small laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the title and I guess one of the things Lip said are from a song called Lonely by Mcfly. It's one of their old songs from the time I was obsessed with them :)))


	20. A small blast from the past

“Do you really have to get up?” Mickey’s head was on Ian’s chest, listening to the redhead’s heartbeat. Ian ran a hand in Mickey’s hair.

“Yeah, I promised her this time I’m really coming.” He said and slowly started to get up from the bed. He heard Mickey growl. “Besides, I could use a run, been neglecting myself lately. And I used to love running with Fiona every Sunday morning. I haven’t done that in years. She’ll even stop by here after.” He said with a grin and finally got up.

“Fine. I’m only ok with this because she’s actually the only other Gallagher I actually like, besides you.” He said and threw his head on the pillow. Ian giggled.

“You’re so cute, you know that?” Ian said and jumped back on the bed and kissed the tip of Mickey’s nose. Mickey’s just frowned.

“I told you before, I’m not cute. I’m manly” he said with a serious tone. Ian couldn’t help but laugh.

“You’re even cuter when your manhood is being threatened” Ian said and pushed himself up so he could stand again. He went into the bathroom and Mickey threw a pillow just as the redhead closed the door behind him.

“Dork” Mickey said

“What was that?” Ian yelled from the bathroom

“I said you’re a dork” Mickey yelled back and then heard the man laugh again from inside. He just rolled his eyes and landed back on his back on the comfortable bed.

*****

“I’m off now. Try and not sleep all day, won’t you?” Ian said after he got his running shoes on. Mickey sighed

“Fiiine. I’ll make coffee and something to eat before you come back. So Fiona’s coming too?” he asked and Ian nodded. “Then I’ll make more. Have fun.”

“I’ll try” Ian said and laughed. He leaned in and kissed his boyfriend then exited the room. A few seconds later Mickey heard the front door and knew Ian left.

 

* * *

 

“So, how’s Jimmy?” Ian asked his sister as they were running

“Fine, works great, finally started to show some progress in that Cancer Research Program he’s been working on. The long hours and money they spend are finally worth it” she said as she tried to keep her breath steady.

“I think we should stop or I may vomit” Ian said as he stopped and bent over while holding his right side. He tried to breathe again.

“I agree” she said and did the same “We really shouldn’t let so much time go without any workout, it’s really hard now. We should make this a weekly thing” she suggested and Ian agreed.

They were walking back to Ian’s apartment and talking about Fiona’s work when suddenly she stopped.

“I’m pregnant” she said and Ian froze. He looked at her and saw the scared expression on her face. That expression suddenly turned into a smile and Ian smiled back

“Are you serious?” he asked and she nodded “Oh my god, congrats Fiona” he said and hugged her.

“Thanks, but I haven’t told Jimmy yet, or Lip, or dad so don’t say anything before I do, ok?” she asked her brother and he just smiled

“Of course. You know I’m good at keeping secrets” he said and winked.

The remaining walk back to the apartment was spent talking about baby names and what Fiona will do after the baby arrives. If she’ll take time off or not. She said she wasn’t sure yet and that she’ll decide as these months pass. Before they knew it, Ian was already opening the front door and got out of the way so Fiona could enter first.

“I know, right?” she said in response to something Ian said just before the door opened. They both laughed and the turned around to see Mickey on the couch with the laptop and the…cat, apparently.

“And in your front you have a very rare view of a man holding his long term enemy” Ian said and gestured just like at a museum tour. Mickey rolled his eyes and Fiona giggled.

“Hi Mickey, how are you?” she asked amused

“Hey Fiona, very good, just plotting the murder of a certain redheaded fool” he said and got up and hugged the taller woman. He hated the Gallaghers and their height. “Wanna help?” he asked with a grin.

“I think I’ll pass. I’m too fond of this ginger” she said and ruffled Ian’s red hair.

“Ok, ok, let’s change the subject. It there anything to eat? I could eat a horse right about now” Ian said

“Yeah, in the kitchen” Mickey gestured and Ian went straight there. “So, how you’ve been? Haven’t seen you in a few weeks” Mickey asked the woman who was still standing in front of him.

“Fine, works good…” she said and stopped, looked at him like she wanted to say more but didn’t so he raised an eyebrow.

“Is something wrong?” he asked

“No, nothing wrong. Can you keep a secret?” she asked

“From Ian?” he asked a bit concerned

“No, no, he already knows, but from the rest, I haven’t actually told anyone besides Ian yet. Kind of waiting for the right moment” she said and smiled

“Yeah sure, tell me”

“I’m pregnant” she said and grinned

“Really?” she nodded “Wow that great Friona, congrats” he said and hugged her. Right then Ian stepped out of the kitchen with a plate of pancakes in his right hand and a half eaten pancake in his left hand.

“You told him?” he asked with his mouth full.

“What’s that mumbles? Can’t understand because you have your mouth stuffed with food” Mickey said and Ian rolled his eyes. He swallowed his food, took a deep breath because he almost chocked with it and said

“I asked if you told him” he repeated and jumped on the couch.

“Yeah, she told me.” Mickey said and looked at Ian’s plate. “He’s going to be an unfortunate child, with an uncle like you” he joked and Ian frowned

“Hey, why?” Ian asked and Mickey laughed because he had his mouth full again.

“Because you’re a ridiculous looking redhead with a weird craving for pancakes. Seriously, you eat like 15 at once, how are you not fat?”

“One: I’m not ridiculous looking, maybe ridiculously good looking but not the other way around. Two: me having a healthy appetite for food isn’t going to make me a bad uncle” he said and took another bite.

“It will if you are always going to eat his food. Those were for Fiona as well, not only for you. The kid’s not even born yet and you already steal his food” Mickey joked and Ian just flipped him off while at the same time taking another bite. Mickey just shook his head and laughed.

“No, I’m not hungry” Fiona said as Ian offered her the plate.

“See, she’s not hungry” he said and flashed Mickey a grin.

*****

“So when are you going to tell Jimmy” Ian asked his sister. She was getting ready to leave. She stayed for a few hours but she was really eager to get home and take a shower.

“Today, I think. After his shift. He should be home by 6 or 7” she said and pressed the door handle to open it. She stepped out but not before giving the guys a hug.

“I’ll call you after. Take care, love you” she said and started to walk

“Love you to Fi” Ian said and closed the door.

“So that’s exciting news” Mickey said after Ian locked the door

“Yeah, I’m happy for her. And for your information, Lip is going to be the lousy uncle, not me” Ian joked.

“Actually you may be right. I retract my previous statement” Mickey said and jumped on the couch.

“I’ll go take a shower” Ian said and Mickey nodded.

15 minutes later, Mickey was watching something on tv when Ian came in the living room. He stopped right in front of the tv and started to look for something.

“Hey, you mind? You’re blocking the view” Mickey said quickly. Ian just let out a small gasp.

“Excuse me? Man, I am the view” he said with a dramatic voice at which Mickey couldn’t help but laugh.

“Fine, you’re a marvelous human being. Now get out of the way.”

 

* * *

 

“Has anyone seen my fucking car keys?” Lily yelled around the office as she desperately looked for the lost items.

“Jesus Lily, you just bought the car 2 weeks ago, you already lost the keys? Don’t you have a spare or something?” Ian asked as he joined her in the search.

“Not on me. I have a spare, at home, I think” she said while still looking through her stuff in the desk drawer.

“There they are” Ian shouted and retrieved the set of keys from the trash bin.

“They must have fallen from my desk. Thanks Ian” she said and grabbed them throwing them in her purse.

“Well if you keep throwing them like that everywhere of course you lose sight of them. Be more careful next time”

“Yeah, yeah. God I hate Mondays, I have to go again to that fucking bank because Mendez is too fucking lazy to do his fucking job. And every Monday I have to be there at 12 pm. sharp. It’s getting old. Anyways” she said and she grabbed her purse and some documents “I have to get going. Thanks for the help, love ya” she said quickly and started to run. With the traffic outside, she had to.

“Love you too” Ian shouted after her. He walked back to his desk when Mandy emerged from her office. She’s been her normal self again since she and Lip got back together after that day when Mickey talked to her.

“Ian, come here for a bit” she said and gestured for him to follow her back in the office.

“Yeah?” he asked when he got there

“Close the door please” she said and he did. “So, I have to go to Miami for a week and I need you to do all these things” she said and handed him a very, very long list. Ian took a quick look at the list and his eyes grew wide. “Yes, I know, it’s a lot. But you have time in a week. I really need you to help me with this, ok?”

“Yeah, sure. It’s my job after all. How come you’re leaving? Weren’t Mendez and Harold supposed to go?” he asked

“Yes, but Harold got hit by a car this weekend and let’s face it, Mendez on his own is useless, he’s not good with people so I decided to go with him” she said and continued to type very fast.

“Harold got hit by a car? What the hell?” Ian asked confused

“Yeah, don’t know the details, he’s in the hospital. He’s fine now but both of his legs are broken so yeah, he has to take some time off work” she said, still typing. “No shit.” Ian thought. “And another thing” she said and this time stopped with the typing and looked at Ian. “Don’t know if Mickey told you or not but today’s the anniversary of our father’s death, so yeah, if he acts weird or doesn’t talk much, it’s because of that” she said and Ian frowned.

“It is? I didn’t know, sorry. He never talks about his dad, like ever. I don’t know anything about him, when did he die?” he asked and she let out a little sigh

“5 years ago. He doesn’t talk about him because he wasn’t very fond of him, to put it mildly.” She said and Ian frowned again

“Why?”

“I think it’s best if he tells you that” she said and went back to her typing. Ian nodded and got up from the seat he didn’t even notice taking. He said he was going back to his desk and walked out of the office.

*****

At 6 o’clock he was ready to leave. Mickey wasn’t there because he had a meeting in town at 3 and said he would go right back home after. Ian did notice Mickey was acting a little strange this morning but he thought it was because it was a Monday. Now he knew better. So when he arrived home he carefully entered the apartment ready to find Mickey agitated or something. But he didn’t, no, Mickey was casually lying on the couch, reading.

“Hey Mick” Ian said carefully and analyzed the brunet.

“Hey Ian, how was work?” he asked very calm which made Ian raise a brow.

“Fine, how are you?” he asked with a very weird tone and for some reason Mickey knew why so he sighed.

“You talked to Mandy, didn’t you? That nosy whore” Mickey said and closed his book with anger. He threw the book on the couch and stood up

“Well she didn’t actually say anything, just about the anniversary” Ian said and got closer to the older man.

“Well she shouldn’t have.” Mickey responded and sighed again. He took a seat back on the couch and covered his face with his hands.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Ian asked and took the seat next to him.

“I don’t know. There’s not much to talk about. He wasn’t a bad father, not until he found out about me and told me that if he ever found me with another guy he would kill him and make me watch.” Mickey said

“Oh my god, that’s horrible. Why didn’t you tell me?” Ian asked

“I don’t like talking about it. After that I was really careful whenever I was seeing someone and a year later I left for college and well he died like a year after that and that’s that. Not much to talk about. Terry wasn’t a person everyone liked but he could have been worse, I guess. It’s just, every time when this day comes I just get all agitated and sad at the same time and it bugs me. That even after all this time he can still get to me.” Mickey said and shrugged.

“Well it doesn’t matter. You have me now and I love you no matter what. And you also have Mandy and Iggy and Lip and Fiona” he said and Mickey let out a chuckle and raised an eyebrow

“You want to tell me, that you know, for a fact, that Lip loves me no matter what?” he asked amused.

“Ok, ok. He may not LOVE you but he doesn’t hate you. You two are just different people and don’t always agree on much” he said and Mickey snorted at that last statement “BUT, he does care about you, in his own way. Just like you care for him, in your way”

“You know, for an alien looking redhead you do make a bit of sense.” Mickey said in a joke but tried to sound serious

“Hey, I’m not alien looking” Ian said and frowned.

“Fine, fine” Mickey giggled. Ian looked away for a second and then back at the brunet.

“You don’t think I’m weird looking, right?” he asked serious and Mickey’s smile faded. He didn’t intend to hurt Ian with the joke; it was just a joke after all.

“Of course not” he said and got closer to the redhead. He reached with his hand and touched Ian’s face. “I think you’re beautiful” he said honestly and Ian let out a laugh.

“Oh I bet that was hard for you to say”

“It may be hard for me to say it to other people, but not to you. I love you” he said and kissed Ian on his forehead.

“I love you too” he responded and leaned his head on Mickey’s shoulder.

“Just so you know, I think you’re beautiful too” Ian said after a few seconds.

“Thanks, but I’m not.” Mickey responded. That earned him a poke in his ribs.

“Shut up, you are.” Ian said again and Mickey just laughed

“Ok, ok, whatever you say, firecrotch.”


	21. I’m going to name him Tony

**After another 3 months**

 

“Where are you going at this ungodly hour on a fucking Sunday?” Ian asked when he saw the brunet getting dressed.

“Ian, it’s 11 am, it’s not that early” the other man said and chuckled.

“It’s early if you went to bed at 6 am” Ian said with a hoarse voice. He tried to clear his throat. “Why the hell do I sound like I fucking smoke 3 packs a day?” he asked and cleared his throat again.

“Not my fucking fault you stayed out until 6 am and screamed all the god damn night like a fucking lunatic” Mickey said and grabbed a hoodie from the closet. It was a rainy day and it was pretty cold outside.

“But you stayed the same amount of time I did, how are you not falling apart right now?” Ian asked the abnormally energetic brunet.

“Don’t know. I feel fine. Maybe the fact that I didn’t drink even nearly as much as you did and I didn’t spend the whole night screaming helped. We’ll never know” he said and Ian flipped him off.

“By the way, don’t know if you remember but we have guests” Mickey casually said as he was looking for his wallet. Ian tried to get up but failed miserably so he gave up.

“What do you mean we have guests?” he asked

“Well you were drunk and you invited a few people to sleep it off here after we left that last club. They were all pretty much out of it and I’m not even sure they knew what they agreed on. Long story short, Lily’s in the guest bedroom with some girl, there’s this English dude from chat support sleeping on the floor in the guest bedroom and the foreign tech support guy is on the living room couch. Don’t know if any of them are dead or not but by the time I’m back they better be gone or at least sober enough and not vomiting everywhere. This little night out was your idea in the first place, you take care of them” he said and kissed the top of Ian’s head gently. “Go to go, I’ll be back around 2, I guess, take some aspirin for the headache, love you, bye” he said quickly and exited the bedroom before Ian could respond.

Ian was still trying to register everything Mickey said and what happened last night. Yes, Ian had this idea that they should go out, just for a few hours, with a few people from work. They didn’t plan on something like this so he was a bit in shock, to say the least. People slept over and he invited them? He doesn’t remember a thing. He rubbed his eyes and tried to stay on both feet. He failed a couple of times but on the third try he managed to stay in that position. He slowly walked out of the room and when he got into the living room he saw that indeed, there was a guy on the couch. He was sleeping with his face down so Ian couldn’t see his face but Mickey was right, it was the tech guy. Ian recognized him by his hair. Then he made his way over to the guest bedroom and slowly opened the door. There was someone on the floor with a pillow under his head, the British dude, Riley, he thinks, from chat support. In the bed there was Lily who was sleeping facing the door and on the other side a girl Ian did not recognize. What the hell happened last night? He closed the door and turned around slowly to go to the kitchen. When he was about to reach the living room the tech guy appeared from around the corner scaring Ian.

“Holy shit! You scared the crap out of me” He said and rested his hand of the wall on his right

“Sorry dude, where’s the bathroom?” the guy asked and Ian pointed to the other side of the hallway. The guy nodded and turned around.

Ian was making, well trying to, coffee when the guy came back from the bathroom

“So, what the hell happened last night and why am I here? More importantly, where is here?” he asked and looked around while rubbing his left eye.

“Uh I don’t remember what happened last night and we’re at our apartment” he said and started the coffee machine.

“We have an apartment?” the guy asked confused. Ian laughed

“No, by our I meant that me and Mickey live here” he said and smiled

“Ohh, right, the boss” he said and a few seconds later his eyes grew wide “Wait, he saw me like this?” Ian nodded “Well crap” he said with a sigh. He took a seat at the kitchen island and rested his elbows on the counter.

“Want some aspirin, some coffee, food?” Ian offered

“Yes, yes and fuck no” he said and Ian laughed.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t eat anything either.” He said and grabbed a glass and filled it with water. He searched for the aspirin and gave the other man one. He took one himself.

A few minutes later they heard the guest bedroom door open.

“Ian, Vlad, what are you guys doing?” Lily asked very cheerfully as she entered the kitchen

“How are you so happy? HOW?” Ian asked and she laughed

“Ah precious baby, so young, so fragile” she said and ruffled Ian hair. “I am a miracle of the world. I’m never hungover, like ever, it’s a gift” she said and opened the fridge door. She looked around and grabbed something then started to eat. Both guys looked disgusted and wondered how she can eat after so much drinking.

“Who is the other female presence in the house?” Ian asked casually as he poured everyone some coffee.

“Oh that would be Angela. We met her last night, don’t you remember?” she asked and Ian shrugged “She started hitting on you and you told her you are as gay as the day is long so then she was so sad and disappointed and you felt sorry for her so you asked her to join us. Then we went to another place and we drank some more and well you started to scream at people on the street and someone almost called the police so we ran a lot and stuff happened and I guess we ended here.” She said and took a sip from her coffee.

“Ohhh I remember the screaming. Dude you were crazy, you kept yelling that we are spies from god knows where and that we are here to kill the politicians.” Vlad said and laughed along with Lily. Ian’s eyes were as wide as the moon. Then he covered his face with his hands in embarrassment.

“Oh dear god, I said that? What the fuck was I on?” he asked mortified

“Fuck if I know” Lily said and laughed “Don’t think you took anything. You were just really drunk and happy for some reason.” She said and continued to eat.

“How much CAN you eat woman?” Ian asked and she shrugged

“Depends on my mood. Today I’m feeling very hungry, why, do you mind?”

“Ah noo, that’s not why I asked. Just wondering how are you so skinny”

“Another gift, I guess.”

“Ok, so this is all great and stuff but I really have to go, my girlfriend’s probably wondering where I am” Vlad said and stood up. He checked his pockets to see if all his things were still there “We’ll talk tomorrow, I guess” he said to the other two.

“Ok, sorry for almost getting us arrested” Ian said

“Neah man, it was fun. See you guys” he waved and left.

“So, Lily, I need you to wake up those two and make them leave. I mean, at least before Mickey gets back” Ian said a few minutes later.

“Ok, I’ll go and see what I can do” she said and left for the bedroom.

 

* * *

 

“Is everyone gone?” Mickey asked when he entered the apartment and saw Ian alone in the living room.

“Yep, they left an hour ago. Did I really screamed at people on the street?” he asked and Mickey giggled

“Yeah, you were totally out of it. It was actually fun.” He said and placed the box he was holding on the table. Ian looked at the box and then at Mickey

“What’s that for?” he asked and leaned over to open it but Mickey slapped his hand away. “Hey!”

“Don’t open it yet.” He said and Ian frowned

“But what’s inside?” he asked impatiently

“I heard you talking with Fiona a couple of weeks ago that you were thinking about this and I thought I’d go ahead and get one and today was the only day my friend was available to help me” Ian raised an eyebrow because Mickey was being very vague

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about Mick. I don’t think I asked Fiona for anything” he said and continues to look at the box.

“You didn’t ask her for anything, you just told her you wanted this” he said and gestured for Ian to open the box. The redhead grinned and seated himself so he could reach the box. He opened it and looked inside and his eyes grew wide for the 100th time today. He looked back at Mickey and grinned again. He reached inside and pulled out a tiny little Pug.

“Oh my god, it’s a Pug” he said looking at the small dog.

“I hope so or else I was robbed blind” Mickey said and laughed.

“I’m going to name him Tony” Ian said and kept looking at the dog

“Tony? Why not..?” Mickey tried to say something but Ian cut him off

“No, Tony!” he said convinced

“But” Mickey tried again

“TONY!” Ian said so Mickey sighed

“Fine, name his ass a stupid name like Tony” he said and threw his jacket on the chair next to the couch.

“It’s not stupid. He looks like a Tony” Ian said still with a stupid smile on his face. “He’s so small and precious” he said again and placed the little creature on the floor and it immediately started to run around.

“Let’s just hope the other beast won’t eat him” Mickey said referring to the cat.

“Neah, she likes dogs. Besides, he’s so small. She won’t do anything to him” Ian said and grabbed the box to throw it away.

“I wouldn’t bet my money on that” Mickey said and went into the kitchen. “Oh, before I forget, are you done with the book?” he asked the redhead

“Yeah, almost, just a few more things to change. Why?”

“Talked to Roger Fowler and he said he wants to read it if you think it’s ready” he said and Ian quickly stopped what he was doing and looked at Mickey

“Already?” he asked and Mickey nodded. “Well ok, I guess I can get it done in like a week, is that ok?”

“I think it’s fine. I’ll tell him later.” He said and opened the fridge. He looked inside for a few seconds then closed it and sighed “We have nothing in there, like the only thing that is edible in there are some eggs and I’m really not in the mood for that.” He said and Ian suggested they should go out and eat. “And the dog? He’s been here for 5 minutes and we are already leaving him alone?”

“Well let’s order then” Ian said and Mickey agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, this is short, sorry for that. I had to come over to my boyfriend's place to post it because the internet isn't working AGAIN at my house. Fucking idiots!!! This is like the 3rd time in 2 months that I have a problem with them. I NEVER had problems with the internet until now. Like EVER!! I'm so mad right now, mainly because I work from home and I need internet to fucking work! UGHHH. Anyaways, hope they solve this by tomorrow otherwise I'll go nuts! Sorry if this sucks but I wrote it in a rush and with anger :)))   
> Ah, another thing. I guess, 3 more chapters and it's over so that's why I skipped 3 months ahead again.


	22. People told me you like me, is that true?

“What am I supposed to do now?” Ian asked Lily as he was holding Mandy’s broken laptop in his hands.

“How the fuck should I know? You are the one who dropped it in the first place. How did you drop it by the way?” she asked the worried ginger.

“Well she asked me to take it down to the tech department because something was wrong with it. They fixed it and when I was bringing it back I dropped it on the fucking stairs and well now it looks like this” he said and turned it around. Lily winced a little when he flipped the screen open and saw that it was completely shattered.

“Oh boy, that doesn’t look good” she said and Ian raised an eyebrow

“No shit. What should I tell her? I mean, all her shit’s on this thing. Important documents, stuff she uses everyday” he paused for a second “Oh man, I’m screwed” he said and placed the laptop on Lily’s desk. He covered his face with both his hands and screamed a little into them.

“Ok, let’s not scream and draw attention. I mean, she has to have a backup for everything, right? And besides, I bet the tech guys can recover everything. Only the screen’s messed up. I bet everything else is just fine. She’ll be able to get it all back, you’ll see” Lily assured her friend.

“Ok, that kind of sounds logical. But even if that’s all true, she’ll still be mad that I’m such a clutz. I mean, it’s not the first thing I broke that was hers.” he said and let out a little sigh. Just then, someone else thought it would be a good idea to join in on the conversation.

“If you want my opinion” Nate said and made both Lily and Ian growl at the same time. “I think you should just go inside and tell her the truth. Be a fucking man” he said and grinned like a bastard.

“Remember when I asked for your opinion?” Ian asked when he turned his head over to where Nate was. The other man shook his head no “Me neither.” Ian responded and Nate rolled his eyes.

“Why do you always have to be so condescending?” Nate asked the redhead. Ian giggled a little.

“Me condescending? Do you even know what that means?”

“See, that’s what I’m talking about. You always think you’re superior to others. Have you ever thought that maybe, just maybe you aren’t? Like, did you ever sit down and think about it?” Ian was looking at the blond man who was now in front of him and couldn’t believe that he was for real. He doesn’t even make fucking sense.

“Do you even listen to the things that come out of your mouth or is it just noise to you? I mean, you literally didn’t make any sense with that” Lily giggled a little when Ian finished talking and the other man was visibly irritated.

“Ok fine, I’ll tell you something else. Remember when you told some people around here something Desmond told you about me? And they all laughed? Remember that? That was a jackass move and don’t fucking tell me you didn’t feel better after doing it because I don’t believe that horse shit for even a second.” The blond had his voice raised and people were starting to look over at them.

“Could you keep your voices down a little?” Lily asked them

“What I did was nothing compared to what your stupid ass did. You fucking told Tom where I work, you brainless monkey. Because of you he came here and made a fucking scene for everyone to see and you’re telling me that the fact that I told a few people that you cry at sad movies in the same fucking shit? Grow the fuck up” Ian said and let out a scornful laugh.

“Yeah well people laughed at me for days. It was just as harmful as what I did” Nate said and that made Ian laugh again.

“I could eat a bowl of Alphabet soup and SHIT a better argument than that. It was so not the same fucking thing and you know it!” he said and grabbed the laptop from the desk “Now I have to go deal with this shit. Don’t have time for your shit as well” he said and left for Mandy’s office.

“Damn little Nate, you sure know how to make people like you” Lily said as they both watched Ian leave “Why don’t you just admit you like him and get over it already. Everyone knows” she said and Nate turned around and looked shocked at her

“Excuse you but I do not like him. He’s obnoxious and unpleasant”

“You do realize those words mean the same thing, right?” she asked the blond man next to her. He looked at her confused

“What?”

“Obnoxious and unpleasant; they mean the same thing. Look it up in a dictionary or something and you’ll understand then” she said and patted him on the back.

“Yeah, well you know what else means the same thing in the dictionary?” he asked trying to sound smart

“Amaze me” she said and sighed

“You and bitch” he said and grinned. Lily sighed again and shook her head

“You know, if you're going to be a smartass, first you have to be smart. Otherwise you're just an ass. See you later ginger lover” she said and waved.

“I don’t like him!” he shouted one last time before he walked furiously back to his desk.

*****

“Come in” Mandy said after she heard a knock on the door. Ian poked his head inside.

“Aren’t you busy?” he asked and she shook her head

“No, no, you can come” she said and gestured for Ian to come inside so he did.

“I think I made a mistake” he said and gave her an apologetic look. She sighed and closed her eyes.

“What now?”

“I kind of dropped your laptop on the stairs and the screen is kind of damaged” he said and looked down at his hands where he was holding the said laptop.

“What do you mean it’s kind of damaged?” she asked looking at the tall man.

“Well” he began and turned the laptop around and flipped the screen open. She looked at the screen, then back at the man, then back the screen and with a shrug she said

“Well, what can I say? It’s just a fucking laptop. Take it back down to the tech guys and tell them to recover everything on it. I’ll get a new one later, when I have the time” she said and looked back at her papers. Ian looked dumbfounded.

“What? You’re not mad? And shouldn’t I be the one to get you a new one? I broke it in the first place” he said and she looked back at him.

“Look” she said and closed her folder “I know usually I would be screaming by now and calling you all sorts of names, but what’s the point? People make mistakes all the time. So you dropped the fucking laptop, big deal. It’s not like I can’t replace it, I have the money” she opened the folder again “Now go where I told you, I have something important to read here” she said and gestured for him to leave. He didn’t say another word and left, not wanting her to change her, apparently, very positive mind.

 

* * *

 

 

“I heard you dropped Mandy’s laptop today” Mickey said after the movie was over. Ian was sitting with his head on the brunet’s shoulder.

“Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. But that wasn’t the weirdest part” he lifted his head so he could face Mickey and wanted to continue but Mickey interrupted.

“Ian, you dropping things isn’t something weird, it’s just a normal Monday” he said and Ian rolled his eyes.

“Not my point. The thing is, I was expecting her to flip out or something. But no, she was so calm it actually scared me. Do you think she’s secretly plotting my murder?” he asked and the brunet snickered.

“No man, I noticed this too. She’s been acting very un-Mandy like lately. Don’t know if she’s on something or maybe she was switched with a clone or something and they wired her wrong” he said and Ian raised an eyebrow.

“Mick, clones aren’t robots, they can’t be wired”

“I know that idiot. It was just a theory. Don’t see you coming up with something better”

*****

Later that evening Ian was looking around the living room for a book when he saw a piece of paper on the bookshelf. It said “don’t fucking forget to bring the fucking suits from the fucking dry cleaning like last time!!!!!” in Mickey’s hand writing. Ian closed his eyes and sighed. Of course he forgot. He was supposed to bring them today because Mickey was at work until 8 and the place closed at 7. Ian went into the kitchen where Mickey was and with an innocent smile he asked

“Mick, would you punish me for something I didn’t do?”

“Of course not” Mickey said and gave the redhead a worried look.

“Good, because I totally didn’t do the only thing I was supposed to do today” he said and grinned. The brunet raised an eyebrow and asked

“You forgot the suits, didn’t you?” he asked and Ian just nodded and kept the grin on his face.

“One of these days, I’m going to take a pillow and smother your pretty face with it” Mickey said and Ian just laughed

“I love you so much when you tell me sweet words” Ian said dreamily

“Tomorrow, after work, you go and pick them up, ok?” he asked calmly and Ian nodded.

“I swear, I won’t forget this time” he said and grinned. He kissed Mickey and laughed when Mickey just stood there still.

“Yeah, I’m sure you won’t forget” he said and smiled a little. He couldn’t help but smile when Ian was giving him the puppy dog eyes. “Oh yeah, before I forget” he said and jumped on a chair next to the kitchen island. “Lily told me today you argued with Nate again. Is he still giving you a hard time?”

“He’s not giving me a hard time Mick. He’s barely even trying. He thinks he’s so smart and shit and he feels like what I told people about him is the same as what he did to me” he said and snorted. Mickey looked at him from under his eyelashes and smiled a little

“You know he likes you, right?” Mickey said and Ian just looked at him.

“What? No, he hates me actually”

“No, he likes you. He’s totally in love with you.” Mickey said and Ian just laughed “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not jealous or anything, I know you wouldn’t do something, it’s just that it’s so obvious and I can’t believe you actually didn’t notice it before”  

“Shut up Mick, it’s not funny.”

“I’m not trying to be funny, it’s true” Mickey said and Ian’s laugh stopped.

“Ok, this is becoming a ridiculous discussion.” Ian said and walked out of the kitchen

 

* * *

 

 

“So, you, me, drinks after work?” Lily asked as she dropped her elbows on Ian’s desk.

“Sure, just have to go pick up something before that and I’ll meet you after, ok?” he asked and she nodded.

After work Ian went straight to the dry cleaners and picked the suits up, he went home, showered, changed, called Mickey to tell him his going out with Lily, played with the dog a little and then left.

“So, this place is …. cute” Ian said looking around

“Yeah, I friend said it’s supposed to be fun, I don’t see it. Maybe she thinks fun means boring people and lame music?” she said and shrugged

“Well we already ordered, might as well drink them.” He said and grabbed his glass.

“What’s up with you today?” she asked the redhead

“Don’t know what you’re talking about” he said and took another sip from his drink and looked away to avoid her eyes.

“Ok, don’t tell me. I have to use the bathroom” she said and got up.

2 minutes later Ian was seriously thinking about asking her after she’s back if they could leave. He wasn’t in the mood for drinks anymore.

“What, you forgot your boyfriend?” Ian jumped when he felt someone behind him. He turned around quickly and when he saw the man he sighed

“What do you want Gordon?” he asked the blond man

“What, can’t a guy say hi to his coworker?” Nate asked with a smirk. Ian rolled his eyes.

“A guy can, you, not so much.” He said and grabbed his glass again. Nate smiled.

“So, what do you prefer, top or bottom?” he asked all of the sudden and Ian didn’t even flinch.

“I don’t own a bunk bed, sorry” he said and drank the remaining liquid in the glass. Nate laughed.

“I see, you think your jokes are funny” Nate responded. Ian was seriously starting to wonder where are those bathrooms and what is taking Lily so much. “Why won’t you ever talk to me like I’m a normal human being?”

“Because you aren’t a normal human being. Which one of the Village People are you supposed to be again?”

“Ok, this is just ridiculous. I don’t even know why I try” Nate said and started to walk away.

“I actually want to know that” Ian said all of the sudden and Nate stopped.

“What?”

“I wanna know why you try. I never give you reasons to talk to me, yet here you are, why is that Nate?” he asked

“Because I’m trying to be a decent human, that’s why” Ian wasn’t buying it

“People told me you like me, is that true?” he was expecting Nate to flip out or something right about now

“Yeah” was all Nate said and Ian snorted.

“Well don’t. There’s nothing here for you” he said directly. Just then Lily came back

“Sorry for that. Had to call my sister and she” she paused and looked at Nate “the fuck are you doing here?” she asked surprised

“Nothing, I was leaving” he said and turned around.

“What was that about?” she asked as she watched the blond man walking away.

“He’s just being Nate, like always. Can we go?” Ian asked and she just nodded. She saw that he was distracted so she just decided not to bug him anymore.

*****

Ian arrived home half an hour later and saw that Mickey was already there.

“You home already?” he asked when he saw his boyfriend entering the apartment.

“Yeah, I was bored.” He said and jumped on the couch right next to the brunet. He leaned his head on Mickey’s shoulder like always. “I love you” he said.

“I love you too” Mickey said and couldn’t help but wonder what was up with Ian.

“You were right, about Nate” he said a few seconds later.

“Did he do something?”

“Neah, he just told me. Doesn’t make any difference. He’s still an idiot to me” he said and Mickey giggled.

“Never tell me I’m not right ever again” Mickey said and kissed the top of Ian’s head.

“You got it” Ian said and made a little salute with his hand.

“Dork” Mickey mumbled and smiled.


	23. Well ... that wasn’t awkward at all

“Great news” Mickey said as he entered the apartment on a Friday evening. “Just got a call from Roger, he wants to meet with you on Monday” he said and joined Ian on the couch. The redhead smiled and jumped into a more comfortable position.

“Really?” he asked with a grin

“Yeah, be at his office at 12 pm” he said and reached into his pocket for the wallet and opened it. He took a card from it “here’s his card, address and all” he said and gave the eager redhead the card.

“Thanks” he said after he took it. “Before I forget, Mandy called me and said she’s going to stop by in 2 hours, said she wants to talk to us” Ian said. He placed the small card on the table and looked back at Mickey “maybe we’ll finally know what’s up with her”

“Yeah, she’s been acting kind of strange. She said anything else?”

“Nope, just that she’s coming.” He said and stood up “I’ll go walk the dog for a bit. Oh btw, you should have seen how cute he was when he was playing with Cleo earlier” Mickey rolled his eyes.

“Yeah I bet they gave you diabetes” Mickey said and giggled.

“You are no fun” Ian said and went into the bedroom to change into something that wouldn’t make him look like a homeless person.

*****

“Was walking the little monster fun?” Mickey asked after Ian arrived. The redhead let out a sigh and threw the leash in its usual spot.

“It was, until 2 girls started following me. They kept whispering and giggling behind me. When I stopped and asked them if they needed anything they asked if they could join me. Because I am a polite person I couldn’t say no so they kept asking me a lot of questions and when I finally told them to stop asking for my number because I am gay they started to squeal and one of them said “We found one. Our own personal gay friend.”” When Mickey heard that he couldn’t help but laugh out loud like a crazy person.

“I can’t believe that actually happened. Oh how I wish I was there” he said and started to calm down but he still let out an occasional laugh

“Anyways, I told them I already have friends and that I’m not in search of any new ones so they got offended and left but not before calling me rude. I was the rude one? Not them for assuming that because I’m gay I am automatically a walking stereotype?” he finished and landed on the couch with a big bang. He even scared the cat who was sitting on the edge of it.

“Mandy’s going to be here in about an hour. I ordered something because our fridge is empty again. I’m also going to the store because we are out of beer. Do you need anything?” Mickey asked as he was putting his shoes on.

“No thanks, I’ll just take a quick shower before she gets here” he said and Mickey nodded. A few seconds later Mickey was out the door and Ian went into the bathroom.

*****

“Would you answer the damn phone? It’s so annoying” Mickey yelled. He just got back from the store.

“No. It’s Nate, I don’t want to talk to him.” Ian said and frowned

“Then silence it. Don’t want to keep hearing your stupid ringtone. You know how much I hate that overused marimba shit.”  Mickey complained so Ian rolled his eyes and did as the brunet man wished.  “Why is the shithead calling anyways?”

“Don’t know, don’t care” Ian said and watched his phone screen light up with another call. “Actually” he said and grabbed it. He swiped the screen and answered it. “The hell you want?”

“I was just wondering if you want to go for a drink and talk a little” when Ian heard him he could only laugh.

“Are you for real? Why the fuck would I want to talk to you? How did you even come up with that idea?” Ian practically yelled. Mickey stopped what he was doing and looked at the redhead with a questioning look. Ian just rolled his eyes and shrugged.

“It was just a question. Jesus, stop being so uptight and hostile towards other people. I’m just trying to be nice, maybe we could be friends or something”

“You want to be friends?” Ian asked in a fake happy tone. “Really? All of the sudden you want to be friends? Forgive me if I don’t believe you. I can’t seem to remember the last time you actually were nice to me or something”

“You’re talking about not being nice? Like you don’t act like a douchebag every time you see me, you’re such a fucking hypocrite” Nate said and snorted

“Well I give what I receive. If you’re giving me snarky remarks and stupid questions you’re getting sarcastic answers back because that’s just how I work”

“Well if you’re going on that premise than why don’t you want to try and be friends with me when I so nicely asked”

“Because I know you well enough to know you don’t want to be friends with me. For god knows what reason you apparently like me or something. That means you don’t just want to be friends and I told you last time, there’s nothing here for you so don’t even try it.” There was a silence on the other line for a few seconds. Then Nate sighed

“Fine, I won’t bother you again with this. But let me tell you just this. I used to hate your guts because you are so over the place all the time. You seem to be good at anything you do and that infuriated me a lot. Then all of the sudden I started to like you, as you said it, for god knows what reason. I wanted to get closer to you after a while, I mean why not? Then I made the mistake to tell Tom where you worked, I don’t even know why I did it. I actually felt bad for doing it and I wanted to apologize but I didn’t after I found out you were screwing the boss. I thought maybe it won’t last, him being the boss and all but I see I was wrong. All I want to say is that don’t worry, I won’t try and make it awkward or anything, make him jealous or shit like that, I’m not twelve. I won’t even talk to you anymore if it has nothing to do with work. But just keep in mind, if it doesn’t work out you can give me a call or something. So yeah, sorry for this long call, have a great weekend.” He said and hung up before Ian could say anything.

“The fuck did he say to you that kept you quite for so long?” Mickey asked. Just then there was a knock on the front door “Never mind, tell me after Mandy leaves, ok?” Ian nodded. He was still unsure what he even heard a few seconds ago.

*****

“So what do you want to tell us that’s so important?” Mickey asked a few minutes later after Mandy arrived. They were all in the living room.

“I’m 50% sure I’m pregnant” she said after not answering his question for a few seconds.

“50% sure? How’s that?” Ian asked

“Well I’m 50% sure I am and the other 50% I’m absolutely sure I am” she said and made Mickey frown.

“If you’re practically 100% sure why say 50% in the first place?” Ian looked at him and rolled his eyes. It was clear that Mandy was scared and freaking out about it. Of course she wouldn’t make sense.

“Because I’m practically freaking out here. I don’t know what I’m saying or doing half the time these days.”

“Have you told Lip, I mean, it’s his, isn’t it?” Ian asked and she smacked him on the back of his neck

“Of course it’s his you dumbass. But no, I haven’t told him yet, don’t know how to tell him actually.” She said and started to bite her nails. “I mean, I’m sure as hell not ready to get married, fuck, we’ve only been dating for what, 8-9 months? That’s not enough for me to actually get married”

“I think you should just tell him and decide together what to do. You don’t actually have to get married you know. It’s not like people are going to throw stones at you for deciding to wait a few more years before you do it, if you even do it at all. A lot of people don’t stay together even for the kid. It’s not the end of the world.” Mickey said. All this time he was holding her hand, just like when they were younger and he needed to assure her everything was going to be fine, every time some douchebag broke her heart.

“Mick is right. Go talk to him and then decide what’s best. He has the right to know” Mandy nodded at what Ian said.

“If you don’t mind I’ll go now. I know it’s rude, I only just go here, but you are right, he has the right to know. I’ll let you guys know what he said, ok?” she said and got up. Both men nodded and also got up.

 

* * *

 

 

“Ian, I need you to give Gordon this files for me, can you do that?” Louise asked “I would do it myself but he’s not here and I really have to go because I have an appointment I can’t miss. He must sign them today and then send them to Mendez, please?” she asked again and Ian smiled. If it was anyone else he would tell them to ask someone else to do it but Louise was nice and she did a lot of favors for Ian in the past.

“Sure, you go and don’t worry” he said so she relaxed and with a smile she gave him the thick folder.

15 minutes later the elevator doors opened and Nate got out of it, not even looking in Ian’s direction. Ian took a deep breath and called his name

“Nate, Louise left something for you to sign” the blond man stopped when he heard his name and after a few seconds he turned around with a smile. It was clearly a fake one.

“Sure thing, give them to me” he said and extended his arm. He grabbed the papers and started to sign them on Ian’s desk. There were a lot of papers to sign and the fact that no one was saying anything made this situation even more awkward. “There you go” he said after finally finishing. He gave Ian his pen back and with the same smile on his face he gave Ian one more glance and then turned around and left.

“Well ... that wasn’t awkward at all” Ian said to himself and gathered the papers back into the folder. He then went straight to Mendez’s office.

“Is Mr. Creep in?” he asked Lily

“Yeah the perv’s in. Be careful, he’s in a bad mood and we all know what that’s like” she said and Ian nodded then knocked on his door. He heard him mumble something from inside so he decided he said “come in”

“I have the papers Gordon had to sign” he said and watched as Mendez gestured quickly for Ian to hand them to him. He did and without even saying a word, Mendez then made another gesture so Ian would get out of his office. “Don’t mention it” he said sarcastically and left without caring if he heard or not.

“Man, he’s such a joyful man” he said when he was next to Lily’s desk again. She giggled and looked at Ian

“Hey, what’s up with Nate? He hasn’t made any clever comments today, like at all” she asked the redhead

“I’ll tell you later, now, what’s the time? I have an appointment at 12” he asked

“10:02” Lily answered and he nodded

“I’ll finish up my work and I’ll go because I don’t want to be late because of traffic or something stupid like that.”

“Ok, good luck” she said and he smiled

“Thanks, I’ll call you after or I’ll just see you here later”

Ian was never this nervous in his life, yes, he usually was nervous about everything but right now this was a whole new level of nervousness he didn’t even knew existed. He would have to concentrate extra hard not to pass out right now, or later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay but my boyfriend left yesterday and I won't be seeing him for 3 months and I was kind of sad and not in the mood to write :(   
> Anyway :D everything's for the best :D   
> In other news, I have red hair again :))) don't know why I'm telling you guys :))) ok, I'll stop now.


	24. Endings are always weird

**A month later**

 

“So how is all this going to work?” Lily asked the redhead in front of her.

“Well for now I mainly have to wait. When the book is done I’ll get a copy in the mail” he said after putting his glass back on the table.

“Did you hear Nate quit today?” she said and raised both eyebrows

“What?”

“Yep, I didn’t even know he gave his 2 week notice. Well apparently those 2 weeks passed and today was his last day. Too bad you had a free day, you missed the show” she said

“What show?”

“Well one of the girls who was in love with him cried for like an hour. Mandy had to send her home so she would calm down” she said and laughed. Ian rolled his eyes.

“Everyone knows he’s gay, why the fuck was she in love with him anyway?”

“The heart wants what it wants Ian” Lily said and smiled.

“Don’t quote Selena Gomez to me” he said and laughed

“Yeah, like she invented the phrase. Anyways, you actually never told me what happened with Nate last month, you keep avoiding the subject. And the fact that he kept asking about you today reminded me that you owe me a story” she said and rested her chin in her hands and looked directly at the redhead who sighed.

“Fine. Nothing actually happened so don’t get all excited for nothing. He basically told me he really likes me and that if I’m ever single to look him up” he laughed at the choice of words he used “I told him he’s barking at the wrong tree and that was that. We never actually spoke about it after that”

“Wow, so he finally admitted it? God, it took him long enough. And let me tell you, he doesn’t really like you, he’s actually in love with you. Any idiot would see that. I’m the one who is right across from his desk. You should see how he looks over at you when you’re working or something. This one time he was staring at you and smiled like an idiot until Mendez told him to stop eye fucking you and continue with his work. He got all red and asked me not to tell you anything. I would have told you but I totally forgot about it.”

“Well I’m sorry for him. Can we just change the damn subject? It’s getting pretty old.” Ian said and gestured for the waitress to bring the check.

“What, we’re leaving already?” Lily asked

“Yeah, I have to go by Fiona’s tomorrow morning and I still have to do a lot of things at home and I really don’t want to go to bed at 4 again because I won’t be able to get up at 8.”

“Why are you going so early at your sister’s on a Saturday?”

“Well her pregnancy is a bit problematic and she can’t do much around the house and Jimmy has a shift so I said I’ll help around the house with a few things.” He said as he paid the girl and got up. Lily followed him out.

“Well ok then. Had fun tonight, thanks for the drinks. Hope that when you’re all famous and stuff you won’t forget the little people in your life” she said and laughed

“I’m not making any promises” he said and Lily just punched him in the arm.

“Say hi to Mickey for me, I’ll see you on Monday” she said and hugged him

“Will do” he said and hugged her back.

He watched her get into a cab and he decided to just walk back home. It was only a few blocks away.

 

* * *

 

 

“You’re home early” Mickey said as the redhead entered the apartment. The dog started running right to him.

“Yeah, have to get up early tomorrow and I still have to work on that project for Mandy.” He said and threw his jacket on the chair.

“What do you have to get up early for?”

“Fiona. I promised I’ll help her around with some stuff at her house. She can barely move around, the doctor told her she has to stay in bed more.” He said as he removed his shirt and threw it towards the couch but it landed on Mickey instead.

“Hey, watch where you throw your shit man” he said as he removed it from his face and threw it back at Ian. “The fuck happened to you?” he said after he saw Ian’s bruised torso.

“Oh that?” he said and looked down “I slipped at the gym and fell on one of the machines yesterday”

“You’re such a clutz man. One of these days you’ll slip and fall in a damn hole” the brunet said and laughed

“Haha, fuck you Mr. Perfect” Ian said with a mocking tone. When he saw that Mickey kept on laughing he flipped him off and went into the bedroom

“Oh c’mon man, don’t be like this” Mickey yelled after him and followed the redhead in.

*****

“Fucking shit, who the hell invented this sound?” Ian growled when his phone started ringing at 7 am

“Holy fucking shit, if you don’t stop it I’m throwing it right into Mordor, so help me God” Mickey yelled with his face in the pillow.

“I can’t find it, where the fuck is it? I hear it but I can’t find it” Ian started looking under his pillow and under the covers and under the bed

“There it is” he said after he found it under the bed “It’s just the alarm” he said and stopped it.

“I know it’s the fucking alarm, why the hell is the alarm ringing at 7 fucking am on a Saturday?”

“I told you, I have to be at Fiona’s at 8.”

“Why so damn early?”

“Because I don’t want to be there until the fucking evening! Besides, it’s your damn fault we stayed up so damn late.” Ian said and rubbed both his eyes.

“Hey, you weren’t complaining about it then” Mickey said with a grin

“True that.” Ian responded and got up and went straight to the bathroom. 15 minutes later he was out again and started looking through the closet for something to wear

“When are you coming back?” Mickey asked from under the covers.

“Don’t know, why?” Ian responded and threw a t-shirt on

“Because I won’t be home until 5 or so. Have to meet with Cole today”

“You mean with Justin Bieber?” Ian asked and giggled

“Shut the fuck up, he looks nothing like him” Mickey said and removed the pillow from his face so he could see Ian.

“Ok. Why do you have to meet with him anyways?”

“He has some proposal or some shit like that”

“Marriage proposal?” Ian asked and wiggled his eyebrows. Mickey threw his pillow at him

“Fuck off” the brunet said and Ian laughed.

“Anyways, I’m going. I’ll eat there, see you later” he said and kissed Mickey and then left.

*****

“Jesus Fiona, do you really need all this shit?” Ian said as he kept on taking things to the attic. “I mean, it would be easier if you just threw it all out”

“No, I need it” she said as she was leaning on the door frame

“If you say so. Where’s Lip?” he asked and looked around. Lip was also there. Not by choice, but because Ian begged him to come and help.

“He said he had to run to the store, said he’s out of smokes”

“He’s always out of cigarettes, he smokes like a chimney” Ian said as he grabbed another box and climbed into the attic. He almost fell this time.

“Hey Ian, we decided on a name for the baby” Fiona said after Ian closed the attic hatch. He wiped his hands on his pants and smiled

“That’s nice but please don’t tell me it’s going to be something stupid like Emerson or Zane” he said and laughed. She just shook her head no “Oh no, please don’t tell me it’s going to be Sebastian, don’t name your child Sebastian” Ian pleaded. Fiona just laughed

“No, we decided on Michael” she said and Ian’s laugh stopped.

“You’re naming him Michael? Really?” he said with a smile

“Yeah, we both really like the name and we both really like Mickey and the fact that you’re so much happier since you met him. He’s a great person.” She said and Ian’s smile only grew wider. “But we’re not calling him Mickey” she said and laughed “Mike is fine”

“Yeah, he won’t mind” Ian said and they both went into the kitchen. “I’m fucking starving” just then Lip arrived with a cigarette already half smoked.

“Not in the house Lip, you smoke outside or not at all” Fiona demanded so the man stepped right back outside without a word.

*****

“Now that all this shit is over I have to get going. Mandy has a doctor’s appointment. This was the only day the doctor was available for an ultrasound so we must be there” Lip said and looked for his jacket in the living room.

“Are you excited?” Fiona asked her brother

“Yeah, I mean, it wasn’t planned but we got used to the idea”  

“You think you’ll find out if it’s a boy or a girl?” Ian asked

“Yeah, it should be possible. She was already 3 months pregnant when she told us. Don’t know why she kept it to herself for so long. That was what, a month ago? I think we can find out. I’ll call with updates” he said and left. Both Ian and Fiona yelled a “bye” before he closed the front door behind him.

“So, thank you so much for the help Ian, I really appreciate it” she said and hugged her younger brother.

“Anytime. I think I’ll go too, I’m tired and I still have some stuff to do around the house” he said and got up.

“Ok, sure. Call me when your book arrives” she said and hugged him again. He hugged her back carefully, not wanting to crush her. He was scared because her pregnancy was a bit troubled and he wasn’t sure how to act around her. She sensed that so she sighed

“I’m not going to burst open Ian, you can hug me” she laughed

“I just don’t know how to act around pregnant women. Thank god I’m gay and I don’t have to have a pregnant woman walking around the house. I would be scared shitless because I wouldn’t know what to do with her.” he said and Fiona laughed then rolled her eyes.

“She wouldn’t be a fragile balloon Ian, we don’t break at the slightest touch.” His sister said and gave him his jacket. He grabbed it then put it on.

“I’ll call you, love you” he said and opened the door

“Love you too sweet face” she said and closed the door after he left.

 

* * *

 

 

**1 year later.**

 

“So I’ll be back in exactly one week. Don’t forget to go by Mandy’s this evening and after that by Fiona’s.” Ian instructed his boyfriend. Mickey just rolled his eyes.

“One: I am not a child; I remember what I have to do. Two: stop acting like you’re going to war man. It’s only a book tour.” Mickey said and Ian laughed

“You know I suck at this whole going for days and stuff like that. I mean, it’s all cool and stuff but it’s also very, very boring, believe it or not.” He said

“You were the one who wanted to write books. Now you write books. Congratz” Mickey said and grinned. “Forgot to tell you, Mandy fired this assistant as well” Ian laughed a little

“Man, what’s the count now?”

“I think this is the 4th one in 4 months” Mickey answered

“Man, that is something, I guess”

“Anyways, say hi to the twins for me and to Mike. Tell them I’ll miss them”

“Ian, they are babies, they have no idea who you even are. Chill man” Mickey said and then helped Ian with his bags.

*****

“So how long’s he gone for?” Lip asked a few minutes after Mickey arrived

“A week. This one’s shorter.”

“Can you hold Emma?” Mandy said and gave Mickey the baby before he could say no and walked in the kitchen.

“Yeah sure, why not?” he said sarcastically

“Lip, go change Ethan’s diaper, I’m not the only one in this family you know” Mandy yelled from the kitchen. Mickey just giggled

“Man, you’re so domesticated now” he said and Lip just flipped him off and went into the nursery.

“So you guys still don’t want to get married?” Mickey asked his sister after she took the baby back.

“No, we decided we don’t want to complicate things for now” she said and then smiled at the baby girl “What about you?” Mickey didn’t look at her after she asked

“Actually” he began and she let out a squeal

“Oh my god, as I live and breathe. Does Mickey Milkovich really want to get married?” she said and Mickey just rolled his eyes.

“Who’s getting married?” Lip asked

“Mickey and Ian” Mandy quickly said but Mickey stopped her

“Hey, no one is getting married…yet”

“Yeah but there’s a yet” Lip said and grinned. This kind of things just makes everything very awkward for Mickey

“I’m thinking about it, yes, I’m not sure yet.” He said. He was sure he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Ian, he knew that for a long time now. It was just that this whole getting married thing seemed pointless to him. What difference does a piece of paper make? But that didn’t mean that it didn’t make a difference for Ian and if Ian wanted this then so did Mickey. “I’ll just wait for another month” he said

“Who’s going to be the bride?” Lip asked and Mandy slapped him on the back of his head

“Fuck you man” Mickey said but couldn’t help but laugh.

2 hours later he left their place and stopped by Fiona’s.

“Man when did he get so big?” Mickey asked as he looked at the small child in Fiona’s arms

“He grows every day. Three more months and we’re already 1 year old, aren’t we?” she asked and looked at the baby who giggled. “How was Ian’s flight?” she asked

“Fine. He called me when he landed. He’ll be back in a week” he said and made himself comfortable on the couch. “Where’s Jimmy?” he asked

“Work, his shift started 2 hours ago” she said and placed Mike on the ground next to his toys.

Mickey actually likes Fiona. He likes Lip, of course, even if they had that shaky start but he likes Fiona more and he wouldn’t even deny it. She is just this great person who can make you like her in just a few minutes. He also loves the relationship she has with Ian. Even though he loves his siblings to death, Mickey was never actually this close to any of them.

He spent a couple of hours there and then went back home. The next week he spent it at work mostly and occasionally went for a drink with Lily who he grew very fond of. She knew how to get under people’s skin.

Ian arrived on a Saturday. He went straight to sleep because he was exhausted. As he was sleeping Mickey kept thinking about it, about the whole marriage thing. He decided not to wait another month so he woke the redhead up and just asked him. Mickey was always a direct person; he hated long speeches and sob stories. So he just asked him if he thought it was a good idea. They talked for hours about it and decided to get married but that it would be something small, just family and friends. It was already too much for Mickey’s taste but hey, if it makes Ian happy, then he is happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I know this was rushed but I seriously spent the last 3 days not knowing what to write and I know I said it would be longer but nothing came from my stupid brain. Also I'm sooo bad at endings. I never know how to end them. And I know it's all very vague about Ian's book and everything else but I seriously didn't know what to write. But I think you guys get it, the book did great and all that.
> 
> Anyways, thank you all for the kudos and comments :D


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